Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many times the (a) Union Jack, (b) St George's flag, (c) Scottish Saltire and (d) flag of Wales has been flown from the headquarters of her Department in London in each year since 2015.
Answered by Conor Burns
Records of flag flying are held by our facilities management provider. Records prior to 2018 are not held.
The Union Jack is flown all year round unless replaced with the flag of St. George.
The flag of St. George was flown 3 times in 2018, 5 times in 2019 and has not yet been flown in 2020.
The Scottish Saltire Flag or Welsh Flag were not flown in the period for which records are held.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many (a) Union Jack, (b) St George, (c) Scottish Saltire and (d) Flag of Wales flags her Department owns.
Answered by Conor Burns
The department owns 8 flags which are flown externally. These are: 4 Union Flags, 2 St George’s Flags, 1 Scottish Saltire Flag and 1 Flag of Wales. This list does not include free standing flags in Ministerial offices.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what plans his Department has to mark International Men's Day on 19 November 2019.
Answered by Conor Burns
To mark International Men’s Day our diversity and inclusion team, in partnership with the Civil Service Race to the Top Network, will co-facilitate a positive BAME male role models event to inspire, empower and encourage staff. Also our Permanent Secretary will offer six speed mentoring sessions to male members of staff. Finally, our Gender Network will promote the day with a blog about striving for gender equality written by a member of our Executive Team.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how much his Department has spent on purchasing (a) national newspapers and (b) newspaper online subscriptions since 2016; and how many copies of each national newspaper were purchased in that time period.
Answered by Conor Burns
Since 2016, the Department’s Media team has spent £11,545 on national newspapers and £22,981 on newspaper online subscriptions.
Other areas of the Department may purchase national newspapers but this is not recorded centrally.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the main policy priority is for his Department for 2018; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by George Hollingbery
The Department for International Trade (DIT) published its updated Single Departmental Plan on 23 May 2018. This sets out DIT’s ambitious agenda, outlining the Department’s vision, mission, and main policy objectives. It also explains how we will deliver these priorities over the next four years.
DIT’s vision is a UK that trades its way to prosperity, stability and security. It has a mission to help businesses export, drive inward and outward investment, negotiate market access and trade deals, and champion free trade.
Our core objectives as a department are to:
Support and encourage UK businesses to drive sustainable international growth.
Ensure the UK remains a leading destination for international investment and maintains its number one position for international investment stock in Europe.
Open markets, building a trade framework with new and existing partners which is free and fair.
Use trade and investment to underpin the government’s agenda for a global Britain and its ambitions for prosperity, stability and security worldwide.
This plan will be revised annually to reflect new priorities or changes in responsibilities.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many contractors currently employed by his Department are paid £1,000 or more per day.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Department for International Trade does not employ any contractors on £1000 or more per day.