Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what estimate she has made to the cost of the public purse of the (a) staffing and (b) rent of (i) DIT East of England, (ii) DIT North East, (iii) DIT South West, (iv) DIT East Midlands, (v) DIT North West, (vi) DIT West Midlands, (vii) DIT London, (viii) DIT South East, and (ix) DIT Yorkshire and the Humber.
Answered by Conor Burns
The Department for International Trade’s (DIT) staff across the UK operate in a nine-region structure across England, as well as having a presence in Scotland, all of which work to support businesses across the whole of the UK to export and grow overseas, as well as to attract Foreign Direct Investment. The current forecast staff pay costs for these teams in 2019-20 are set out below.
Region | Staff Costs (2019-20) |
East of England | £273,867 |
North East | £265,428 |
South West | £222,869 |
East & West Midlands* | £1,374,359 |
North West | £637,337 |
London and Scotland** | £507,155 |
South East | £374,511 |
Yorkshire and Humber | £420,829 |
Grand Total | £4,076,355 |
* Staff costs are recorded against the Midlands as a whole and are not separated between East and West Midlands
** Staff costs for staff who support London and staff who support Scotland are reported together and can not be separated.
Other functions at DIT are not organised into English regions.
The 2019-20 full year forecast staff costs of all civil servants and other staff working in the UK is £139,114,653.
The annual property rental costs in 2019-20 of all DIT’s buildings by English region are:-
Region | Property Rental Costs (2019-20) |
East of England | £32,000 |
North East | £24,000 |
South West | £20,000 |
East Midlands | £40,000 |
West Midlands | £45,692 |
North West | £39,649 |
London | £8,973,578 |
South East | £298,711 |
Yorkshire and the Humber | £42,695 |
Grand Total | £9,516,325 |
These buildings accommodate staff from a number of different teams from across DIT. It is not possible to identify the rental costs of space in these buildings occupied solely by the regional teams supporting businesses to export.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of the printing and postage of the document entitled Exporting: A Toolkit for MPs.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The printing cost of the updated ‘Exporting: A Toolkit for MPs’ that was distributed on 22 January 2019 was £901.56. There were no postage costs incurred.
The Exporting Toolkit has been sent to all Members of Parliament. Those interested in working with the Exporting is GREAT campaign and the Department for International Trade can use the toolkit to help inform businesses in their constituency about international trade and the support available to take advantage of export opportunities.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 10 June 2019 to Question 260105, what estimate her Department has made of the cost to the public purse of the (a) operation, (b) maintenance and (c) promotion of her Department's export hub truck (i) in this financial year to date, (ii) over the last six months and (iii) this calendar year to date.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Export Hub is a mobile outreach platform that hosts workshops and advice sessions so that businesses across the UK can access Department for International Trade export services on their doorstep. It is available for use by Members of Parliament to help boost exports in their constituencies.
The spend on the Export hub is as follows:
We are not able to break these costs down by operation, maintenance and promotion.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of his Department's Export Toolkit; and how much funding he has allocated to the (a) promotion and (b) printing and distribution of that toolkit.
Answered by Conor Burns
It is estimated that the cost of the Exporting Toolkit for Members of Parliament is £1,201. Total promotion costs were £121. Printing and distribution costs are not yet available, but are estimated at approximately £1050 and £30 respectively.
The Exporting Toolkit has been sent to all Members of Parliament. Those interested in working with the Exporting is GREAT campaign and the Department for International Trade can use the toolkit to help businesses in their constituency take advantage of exporting opportunities.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the (a) operation, (b) maintenance and (c) promotion of his Department's export hub truck (i) since 2016, (ii) in the last year and (iii) in the last six months.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Export Hub is a mobile outreach platform that hosts workshops and advice sessions so that businesses across the UK can access DIT export services on their doorstep. It is available for use by Members of Parliament to help boost exports in their constituencies.
The spend on the Export hub is as follows:
i) Since the department’s formation in July 2016 to 31st May 2019: £1,465,493
ii) Last financial year (2018/19): £446,659
iii) Last six months: £205,153
We are not able to break these costs down by operation, maintenance and promotion.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to Answer of 8 March 2019 to Question 227160, how many staff have been employed by his Department in each month since 31 January 2019.
Answered by George Hollingbery
The Department for International Trade (DIT) workforce includes employees (including those working overseas and UK Export Finance), contractors and those on loan from other government departments or seconded from organisations external to the Civil Service.
Pursuant to the answer provided on 8 March 2019 to question 227160, the total workforce employed by DIT in each month since 31 January 2019 is set out in the table below.
Month ending | Total workforce |
31/01/2019 | 3,990 |
28/02/2019 | 4,043 |
Data for March 2019 will be available after 5 April 2019.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the cost to the public purse has been of spending on advertising related to the exit date of the UK leaving the EU being 29 March 2019.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department for International Trade has not spent any money on advertising related to the exit date of the UK leaving the EU being 29 March 2019.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the publication entitled UK Trade in Numbers, published on 26 February 2019.
Answered by George Hollingbery
The Official Statistics publication “UK Trade in Numbers” was made freely available on GOV.UK on 26 February as the primary means of access.
The cost of printing the 1,200 hard copies of this publication was £1,256.32. Or just over a £1 per pocketbook.
This publication provides a substantial source of information to help inform how the UK meets the challenges of trade policy and promotion.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 11 March 2019 to Question 229270 on Exports: Advertising, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the Exporting is Great campaign working with (a) private sector partners, and (b) a network of exporters to promote exporting.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Exporting is GREAT campaign works closely with hundreds of UK companies and scores of partners to encourage more companies to start exporting or to export more.
These partners include professional services firms, banks, major online businesses, business representative organisations and trade / professional bodies.
These companies give their time freely, at no cost to the public purse beyond the resource cost required to manage and support their involvement. It is not possible to separate these specific costs from the overall Exporting is GREAT campaign costs
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 11 March 2019 to Question 229270 on Exports: Advertising, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the Music Exporting Growth Scheme.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Music Export Growth Scheme is designed to support the launch of UK music acts to international audiences through grants to UK-registered music businesses; principally independent record labels and music management companies.
In the financial year to date - from 1 April 2018 to 28 February 2019 - the Music Export Growth Scheme has cost an estimated £766,000.
The scheme is administered by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).