Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps the Government is taking to ensure its commitment that the NHS and other public services are excluded from future trade deals is upheld.
Answered by George Hollingbery
I refer the Honourable Friend for Birmingham, Hall Green to the answer I gave to the Member for Midlothian on 26 February 2019, UIN 224362.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if the Government will cease supplying arms to Saudi Arabia following the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The situation in Saudi Arabia is kept under careful review and licensing decisions are made on a case by case basis.
Export licence applications are carefully assessed against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria. A licence would not be granted if to do so was inconsistent with the Criteria. The policy remains as announced to parliament in a Written Ministerial Statement on 25 March 2014:
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm140325/wmstext/140325m0001.htm#14032566000018 and updated with an additional policy, as announced in a Written Ministerial Statement on 13 September 2018:
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 3 May to Question 139377, on the Legatum Institute, for what reasons he did not indicate in that answer whether (a) notes and (b) documentation pertaining to those meetings were (i) produced and (ii) circulated to (A) Ministers and (B) officials in his Department; and whether the Legatum Institute made any proposals on departmental or Government policy at those meetings.
Answered by Greg Hands
I refer the Hon Member to my previous answer of 3 May 2018, UIN 139377. Details of these meetings are published on the Gov.UK website and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?departments%5B%5D=department-for-international-trade&publication_type=transparency-data
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 26 April 2018 to Question 137004 on Legatum Institute, between what the purpose was of the meetings between Antonia Romeo and the Legatum Institute between 16 October 2017 and 8 December 2017; whether (a) notes and (b) documentation pertaining to those meetings were (i) produced and (ii) circulated to (A) Ministers and (B) officials in her Department; and whether the Legatum Institute made any proposals on Department or Government policy at those meetings.
Answered by Greg Hands
I refer the Hon Member to my previous answer of 23 April 2018, UIN 137004, which sets out that the details of these meetings are available on the Gov.uk website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?departments%5B%5D=department-for-international-trade&publication_type=transparency-data
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, on what dates he or officials from his Department met with representatives of the Legatum Institute; which representatives of the Department and the Institute attended each meeting; and what was the content and purpose of each meeting.
Answered by Greg Hands
DIT Ministers meet a variety of think tanks and external stakeholders on a regular basis. Details of the meetings held by DIT Ministers are published on the Gov.UK website and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?departments%5B%5D=department-for-international-trade&publication_type=transparency-data
Below ministerial level, officials meet think tanks and a range of other stakeholders, including businesses, trade unions and civil society as part of general engagement activities of the department.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment he has made of whether the recent European Court of Justice ruling issued on 6 March 2018 in the Slowakische Republik v Achmea BV case that the ISDS mechanism in an intra-EU bilateral investment agreement is incompatible with EU law; and whether the UK plans to follow that ruling and terminate its intra-EU bilateral investment agreements.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Government has noted the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union in this case and is considering its implications. The judgment makes no reference to the intra-EU bilateral investment treaties to which the UK is a party, nor does it direct Member States to terminate such agreements.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January to Question 121983, if he will list each of the 14 trade working groups and 21 countries; and where that information has previously been made public.
Answered by Greg Hands
Trade Working Groups have been set up with the following partners: Andean Community (comprising Peru, Colombia and Ecuador), Australia, Canada, China, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) (comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and UAE), Israel, India, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, South Korea, Turkey and the USA. Individual announcements and statements are available on the department’s website.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to his article in The Times of 9 January 2018, which the 14 trade working groups across 21 countries are; how much funding the Government provides to each of those working groups; and for what reason no details will be made available to Parliament on the meetings of those groups.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Government has announced 14 trade working groups across 21 countries to explore the best ways of progressing our trade and investment relationships, details of which have been made public. These form part of the daily work of the teams that run them and are not accounted for separately.
We will work with Parliament and stakeholders to identify the vital role they will play in scrutinising, implementing and ratifying the UK’s future trade agreements. We will return to Parliament with proposals in due course.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to his article in The Times of 9 January 2018, whether representatives of any (a) NGOs, (b) trades unions, (c) consumers’ rights organisations or (b) environmental organisations will be invited to join the Trade Policy Strategic Advisory Group; and who is responsible under which criteria for deciding that group’s membership.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Trade Policy Strategic Advisory Group is only one part of the Department for International Trade’s stakeholder engagement activities.
The Trade Policy Strategic Advisory Group will ensure that a range of voices are contributing to developing our trade policy. We will seek to include representation of individuals capable of taking views from across business communities, civil society, consumer groups and academia from across the UK. Further details on the criteria and membership will be decided on in due course.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, which (a) Government department and (b) body is responsible for (i) assessing and (ii) authorising arms export applications.
Answered by Mark Garnier - Shadow Parliamentary Under Secretary (Work and Pensions)
The Export Control Organisation within the Department for International Trade is the UK’s licensing authority for military and dual use exports, and the Secretary of State for International Trade is responsible for decisions to grant or refuse export licences. These decisions are always informed by assessments carried out against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria by a number of advisory Government Departments.
I refer the hon Member for Birmingham, Hall Green to the answer I gave to the hon Member for Rutherglen and Hamilton West on 25 April 2017, UIN: 70268.