Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Stepney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many non-disclosure agreements his Department has signed with (a) companies and (b) trade associations advising the Government on preparations for contingency planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
Answered by Lord Grayling
Government Departments continue to engage with a wide range of businesses to understand their priorities and issues as we leave the European Union, both to inform our negotiating position, and our preparations in the unlikely event of there being no deal.
Departments can make use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) when structuring their engagements on preparations for leaving the EU, which is a crucial component of planning. It is for departments to determine the manner in which engagement with stakeholders takes place. Given the sensitive nature of some discussions, there may be limited circumstances in which departments have used NDAs to enable those conversations, thereby reaching more stakeholders than would otherwise be the case.
NDAs are also a common component of contractual arrangements that are used to protect commercial considerations of the parties involved or to protect sensitives around the development of Government policy.
It is entirely normal practice to use such agreements and they are therefore sometimes necessary for Government departments who are responsible for managing their preparations for leaving the EU.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Stepney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many businesses rent properties in Network Rail’s arches in (a) England, (b) London and (c) Bethnal Green and Bow constituency.
Answered by Andrew Jones
Network Rail has 3,822 tenanted properties in England, of which approximately 2,307 are in London. Network Rail does not record its properties on a constituency basis and therefore it is not possible to provide figures for the Bethnal Green and Bow constituency.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Stepney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the oral evidence of the Permanent Secretary of HMRC of 23 May and 5 June 2018 to the Treasury Committee, whether he has seen briefing papers on the estimated figures of £17-20 billion on the costs of the maximum facilitation model; and what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of those estimates.
Answered by Lord Grayling
The Government is undertaking a wide range of continuing analysis in support of our EU exit negotiations and preparations. This analysis contributes to our exit negotiations with the EU, helps define our future partnership with the EU, and informs our understanding of how EU exit will affect the UK’s domestic policies and frameworks. We have been clear the Government will not provide an ongoing commentary on internal analytical work that is being carried out within government.
By leaving the Customs Union and establishing a new and ambitious customs arrangement with the EU, we will be able to forge new trade relationships with our partners around the world, and maintain as frictionless trade as possible in goods between the UK and EU, providing a positive and powerful voice for free trade.
In assessing the options for the UK's future customs relationship with the EU, the government will be guided by what delivers the greatest economic advantage to the UK and by our strategic objectives:
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Stepney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment the Government has made of the potential merits of offering financial incentives to encourage people to buy an electric car; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Financial incentives help to offset the upfront price premium of an electric vehicle and are therefore important to encouraging motorists to make the switch, and have been made available by Government for the past seven years.
We have a support package worth nearly £1.5 billion to encourage early market growth, including a variety of grant funding schemes such as the Plug-in Car Grant, which offers up to £4,500 off the cost of a new electric car. There are also grants to put the necessary charging infrastructure in place and positive incentives for electric vehicles in the UK tax framework.
These incentives support our ambition to end the sale of new conventional petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2040, helping to meet our long term climate and air quality goals as well as positioning the UK as a global leader in electric vehicle technology and use.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Stepney)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, by what proportion the rent for premises leased by Network Rail has increased for businesses based in (a) Bethnal Green and Bow constituency, (b) London and (c) England in each of the last five years.
Answered by Claire Perry
I am unable to provide this information as it is held by Network Rail and is commercially sensitive.