Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, when and where the next meeting of the UK US Trade Working Group is due to take place.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK-US Trade and Investment Working Groups were focused on strengthening our trade and investment relationship and laying the groundwork for potential free trade agreement before the UK had the left the EU. Now that we have left the EU, we are able to begin negotiating a free trade agreement with the US. Details about the first round of negotiations will be made available to Parliament after our negotiating objectives have been published.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many official visits abroad have been made by the Chief Trade Negotiation Adviser in each of the last 12 months; to which countries those visits were; and which officials accompanied him on those visits.
Answered by Conor Burns
The Chief Trade Negotiation Adviser has made one official visit abroad in the last year. He visited the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Geneva, Switzerland on 7-8 October 2019 for World Cotton Day. He was accompanied by a Department for International Trade Private Secretary.
Information on senior official visits abroad is publicly available on gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dit-senior-officials-travel-and-hospitality-and-permanent-secretary-meetings.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many official meetings the Chief Trade Negotiation Adviser has attended with (a) senior UK civil servants and (b) politicians in each of the last 12 months; and what the job title was of each civil servant.
Answered by Conor Burns
Over the last 12 months the Chief Trade Negotiation Adviser has held multiple meetings, almost all of which were attended by a member of the Senior Civil Service (SCS) other than himself.
The Chief Trade Negotiation Adviser meets with Department for International Trade ministers several times a week while parliament is sitting. He has also met with ministers from other government departments, special advisers and MPs.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many official meetings she has had with the Chief Trade Negotiation Adviser in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by Conor Burns
My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade meets frequently with the Chief Trade Negotiation Adviser and has had a number of formal meetings with him since her appointment on 24 July 2019.