Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many and what proportion of officials in his Department took sick leave for reasons relating to stress in the last 12 months; what proportion that leave was of total sick leave taken in his Department; and what the cost was to his Department of officials taking sick leave over that period.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
Health and Wellbeing forms part of the Department for Exiting the European Union’s commitment to making the Department a great place to work. The Department has an attendance management policy, and Employee Assistance Programme and a dedicated mental health and wellbeing network who have been leading on a number of wellbeing activities across the Department to improve the physical and mental wellbeing of staff employed in the Department.
We are not in a position to release this data as individuals may be identifiable due to fewer than 10 individuals being absent in the last 12 months due to stress. The total cost to the Department of all recorded sickness absence in the last financial year was approximately £72k based on the estimated cost of working days lost.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether the UK is able to leave the EU without a deal before 31 October 2019.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The earliest that the UK can leave without a deal is 31 October 2019. Our priority remains delivering the deal to ensure a smooth and orderly exit before this date. While we do not want to leave with no deal and Parliament has also voted against this outcome three times, it remains the legal default at the end of the extension period in the event a Withdrawal Agreement cannot be agreed. As a responsible government we’ve been preparing to minimise any disruption in the event of no deal for over two years and will continue to prepare for all Brexit scenarios.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what recent estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of preparations for the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The Department does not record costs on a scenario basis and therefore does not hold this level of information.
The Department has a budget of £94.4m for 2019-20. The Department’s expenditure from previous years is available on GOV.UK and the 2018-19 accounts will be published online once the audit is concluded.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what estimate his Department has made of the number of UK citizens in each age group living in the EU27 that are expected to return to the UK in the event of the UK leaving the EU (a) with and (b) without a deal.
Answered by Robin Walker
The UK government has always acted to ensure that UK nationals can continue to live their lives broadly as they do now, and that remains our objective both in a deal and no deal scenario. The Withdrawal Agreement will protect the rights of around one million UK nationals in the EU and over 3 million EU citizens in the UK.
The UK cannot act unilaterally to protect the rights of UK nationals in the EU and that is why we have always prioritised reaching a reciprocal agreement with the EU. The Government has been calling on Member States to protect the rights of UK nationals in a no deal scenario and we welcome the progress that has been made. All Member States have set out their no deal plans and provided some reassurances that the rights of UK nationals will be protected in the event of a no deal, but we continue to call on them to go further and match our no deal offer to EU citizens.
The Government recognises the concerns of UK nationals in the EU including those who may choose to return to the UK, and published a policy paper on 4 April 2019 setting out the steps that we have taken to address these concerns should UK nationals decide to return, regardless of whether a deal is reached with the EU.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February to Question 221573, whether the Government has plans to (a) merge the respective replacements for the 45 respective EU agencies of which the UK is currently a member into the Government’s three announced new agencies, or (b) create further agencies to replace the EU agencies.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
No decisions have yet been made on our future relationship with the EU's agencies and bodies after leaving the EU. We are considering very carefully a range of options. In most cases we anticipate that repatriated EU functions can be absorbed by existing UK departments and existing public bodies. Prior to any decisions on establishing new UK-level bodies, the Government always looks to minimise disruption and costs, which includes considering alternative options, such as the use of existing public bodies.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2019 to Question 221547, on Voting Rights; EU Nationals,which EU member states have yet to confirm reciprocal voting rights for UK citizens residing in their respective state in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by Robin Walker
The UK pushed for reciprocal rights to stand and vote in local elections in negotiations on citizens’ rights but they will not form part of the Withdrawal Agreement. Instead we are pursuing bilateral agreements with individual Member States where possible, to apply in a deal or no deal scenario. We are pleased to have secured the first such bilateral agreement on local voting rights with Spain in January and we are continuing our discussions with other Member States.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether voting rights for EU citizens residing in the UK will be maintained under the current terms in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by Robin Walker
The UK pushed hard in negotiations to include the right to stand and vote in local elections for UK nationals living in the EU, and EU citizens in the UK, but they will not be included in the Withdrawal Agreement as the Commission said it was out of scope.
The Government has made clear that we will pursue bilateral arrangements with individual Member States. Ministers have written to all member states to offer bilateral agreements on local voting rights.
We have now reached an agreement with Spain that will secure the rights of UK nationals living in Spain, and Spanish citizens living in the UK, to stand and vote in local elections. This is a positive step forward in our future relationship with Spain and we hope this will be the first of many similar bilateral agreements with other Member States.
As we continue to pursue these bilateral agreements, we can confirm that EU citizens in the UK will continue to be able to vote and stand in England and Northern Ireland’s May 2019 local elections.
The Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly are responsible for their own franchises.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many of the UK agencies required to replace the 45 respective EU agencies of which the UK is currently a member (a) have been established and (b) will be operation after 29 March 2019.
Answered by Robin Walker
Prior to any decisions on establishing new UK-level bodies, the Government will always look to minimise disruption and costs, which will include considering alternative options. In most cases we anticipate that repatriated EU functions can be absorbed by UK departments and existing public bodies.
The Government has previously announced three new agencies; the Trade Remedies Authority; an independent and statutory body holding government to account for the environment; and an independent authority for monitoring the implementation and application of the citizens' rights provisions of the withdrawal agreement. As set out in the Political Declaration, the UK and EU will explore the possibility of cooperation between the UK and EU agencies such as the European Aviation Safety Agency, the European Chemicals Agency, and the European Medicines Agency.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, when the Government plans to publish a draft copy of Withdrawal Agreement Implementation Bill.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
As we have always said, we will introduce the Bill as soon as possible once the Withdrawal Agreement has been approved by Parliament.
It would be presumptive to introduce or publish the legislation implementing the Withdrawal Agreement before Parliament has approved the terms of the final deal.
The Government is committed to doing everything it can to ensure that Parliament has the opportunity to scrutinise the Bill in the time available.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 16 January to Question 205793, Department for Exiting the European Union: Brexit, what his Department’s total expenditure on public information programmes is to date.
Answered by Kwasi Kwarteng
The Department For Exiting the EU is tasked with successfully delivering the UK’s exit from the European Union. A key element of this is providing the public with information on all possible scenarios, including leaving the EU without a deal. The paid-for element of the Government’s ‘Prepare for EU Exit’ public information campaign, including advertising, is being led by the Cabinet Office.