Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to the data paper on Northern Ireland’s trade and investment under no deal, published by the Northern Ireland Department for the Economy, whether the figure of up to 40,000 jobs losses within key industries in the event that the UK leaves the EU without an agreement is the Government's current assessment; and what estimate his Department has made of the effect on Northern Ireland's (a) economy, (b) unemployment rate and (c) key industries of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
Answered by Julian Smith
Overall, the cumulative impact from a ‘no-deal’ scenario is expected to be more severe in Northern Ireland than in Great Britain, and to last for longer. In a no-deal scenario there is an expectation of disruption to closely interwoven supply chains and increasing costs that would affect the viability of many businesses across Northern Ireland.
I have been working closely with colleagues across Government and engaging with the Northern Ireland Civil Service in our exit preparations.
The Government will continue to uphold the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement in all circumstances; it will continue to maintain existing Common Travel Area arrangements for British and Irish citizens between Ireland and the United Kingdom; and it is committed to doing everything in its power to preserve an open border in Northern Ireland, under no circumstances will it put in place infrastructure, checks, or controls at the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many staff of her Department who were transferred or seconded to work (a) in other departments and (b) on other departmental briefs on preparations for the UK to leave the EU have since returned to her Department.
Answered by John Penrose
I can confirm that no members of staff in my Department were transferred or seconded to work (a) in other departments or (b) on other departmental briefs on preparations for the UK to leave the EU.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many citizens of non-UK EU countries work in (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) its non-departmental public bodies.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
The Northern Ireland Office does not hold information relating to non-UK EU nationals. From the data held at October 2018 on 121 staff, 28% have declared as British citizens, 14% have declared as Northern Irish and 2% have declared as other nationalities. The remaining 56% either prefer not to say or have not declared their nationality.
The Department has no agencies.
It has three executive non-departmental public bodies – the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, the Independent Reporting Commission and the Parades Commission for Northern Ireland; and one advisory non-departmental public body – the Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland. As these bodies are independent of Government, the hon Member may wish to write to the Commissions directly on these matters – contact details are set out below:
ALB | Status | Contact Details |
Parades Commission for Northern Ireland | Executive NDPB | |
Independent Reporting Commission | Executive NDPB | |
Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission | Executive NDPB | |
Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland | Advisory NDPB |
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether gagging clauses have been used in contracts drawn up between his Department and any charities, voluntary sector organisations, social enterprises or companies with the intention of stopping any criticism of Ministers of his Department.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
The Northern Ireland Office has not used gagging clauses in any contracts with charities, voluntary sector organisations, social enterprises or companies.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if she will ensure that the six areas of cross-border cooperation outlined in the Good Friday Agreement continue to be aligned in the event of a no-deal scenario.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
We are committed to the Belfast Agreement in all its parts, including the institutions and areas of cross-border cooperation set up following the Agreement, no matter what the outcome of the negotiations.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if the Government will ensure the ongoing alignment of the six areas of cross-border cooperation set out in the Good Friday Agreement in the event that the backstop arrangement for the Northern Ireland border comes into force.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
We are committed to the Belfast Agreement in all its parts, including the institutions and areas of cross-border cooperation set up following the Agreement, no matter what the outcome of the negotiations.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to the Written Statement of 13 March 2018 on Spring Statement, HCWS540, how much of that funding she has allocated to (a) programmes, (b) administration and (c) staffing in her Department.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
HM Treasury has allocated over £2 billion of additional funding to departments and the Devolved Administrations for EU exit preparations so far. This breaks down as:
£412m of additional funding over the spending review period for the Department for Exiting the European Union, Department for International Trade and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office at Autumn Statement 2016.
£286m of additional funding for 17/18 (a full breakdown of which can be found in Supplementary Estimates 17/18).
Over £1.5bn of additional funding for 18/19. A full breakdown of which can be found in the Chief Secretary’s Written Ministerial Statement, HCWS540, laid on 13 March.
The Northern Ireland Office was allocated £0.4m for costs arising as the UK leaves the EU in the Spring Statement 2018. The final breakdown between programme and administration spend will be confirmed in the Supplementary Estimates.
All of the funding allocated to the Department has been allocated to provide additional staff resources for EU Exit preparations.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what the cost to the public purse has been of her Department hiring additional staff to cover issues related to the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
This information is not available as we do not account for costs in that way. Details of the Department’s expenditure is available in the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications.