Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove and Portslade)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to the Answer of 25 April 2022 to Question 155847 on Department for International Trade: Belfast, how many staff work in the Trade and Investment hub in Belfast.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
As of June 2022, nine full time employees are employed in the Department for International Trade’s Northern Ireland hub.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove and Portslade)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what progress she has made on establishing a trade and investment hub in Belfast.
Answered by Mike Freer
The Department for International Trade (DIT) announced the establishment of a Trade and Investment hub in Belfast in 2021. It has been operational since March 2022, and is committed to bringing more investment, jobs and export opportunities to Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove and Portslade)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what plans the Government has to support UK companies based in the UK teaching English to overseas students after the UK leaves the EU (a) with or (b) without a deal.
Answered by Graham Stuart
In either scenario, this Department will continue to support the UK English Language Training (ELT) sector. The Department for International Trade (DIT) has a dedicated Education team which has embedded within it an ELT Specialist whose role is to support the sector’s international interests. English UK, the organisation that represents over 400 ELT providers, is a member of the DIT/DfE Education Sector Advisory Group which I co-chair and our English Language Working Group includes key representatives from the sector. English UK received DIT funding to take ELT providers to ICEF (International Consultants for Education & Fairs) Berlin in 2019 and will again in 2020.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove and Portslade)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, when the most recent meeting was of the Board of Trade.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Board of Trade met at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston on 29 March 2018.
The meeting was attended by the Advisers to the Board of Trade, as stated on https://www.gov.uk/government/news/international-trade-secretary-dr-liam-fox-convenes-a-new-board-of-trade-to-ensure-the-benefits-of-free-trade-are-spread-throughout-the-uk, my Rt Hon Friends the Secretary of State for International Trade, the Secretary of State for Wales, my Hon Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and I. The Lord Mayor of London also attended as an Adviser.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove and Portslade)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, who attended the most recent meeting of the Board of Trade.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Board of Trade met at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston on 29 March 2018.
The meeting was attended by the Advisers to the Board of Trade, as stated on https://www.gov.uk/government/news/international-trade-secretary-dr-liam-fox-convenes-a-new-board-of-trade-to-ensure-the-benefits-of-free-trade-are-spread-throughout-the-uk, my Rt Hon Friends the Secretary of State for International Trade, the Secretary of State for Wales, my Hon Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and I. The Lord Mayor of London also attended as an Adviser.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove and Portslade)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if he will publish the minutes from the most recent meeting of the Board of Trade.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Board of Trade met at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston on 29 March 2018.
The meeting was attended by the Advisers to the Board of Trade, as stated on https://www.gov.uk/government/news/international-trade-secretary-dr-liam-fox-convenes-a-new-board-of-trade-to-ensure-the-benefits-of-free-trade-are-spread-throughout-the-uk, my Rt Hon Friends the Secretary of State for International Trade, the Secretary of State for Wales, my Hon Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and I. The Lord Mayor of London also attended as an Adviser.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove and Portslade)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, which non-EU countries that have a trade agreement with the EU have provided his Department with a commitment to maintain those arrangements without any changes that would require negotiations between that party and the UK during the transition period after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Greg Hands
As a priority, we are currently working with both the EU and partner countries to ensure continuity of the effects of EU trade agreements with non-EU countries during the Implementation Period.
Alongside these discussions, we have engaged with over 70 countries to ensure continuity of trading arrangements beyond the Implementation Period and all partner countries have agreed to work with us to ensure continuity. This is a technical exercise to replicate the effects of current trade agreements.
Asked by: Peter Kyle (Labour - Hove and Portslade)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what discussions the Government has had with the EU on conditions under which the UK can begin negotiating trade agreements with countries with whom the EU has trade agreements; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Greg Hands
As an EU Member State, discussions we have about trade with our partner countries are limited by our obligations under the Common Commercial Policy and our duty of sincere co-operation. Discussions have been focussed on securing continuity, not on a renegotiation of terms. The European Commission is aware of these discussions and has not raised any objections.