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 estimate she has made of the cost to her Department of leaving the EU in accordance with (a) the proposals set out in the Government’s White Paper and (b) a no-deal scenario.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
At Autumn Budget 2017, the Chancellor set aside £1.5 billion of additional funding for EU Exit preparations in 2019/20. Departments will be invited to bid for 2019/20 EU Exit preparation funding later in the year. Details of timings and process will be announced in due course.
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 total cost to the public purse of her Department’s work preparing for the UK to leave the EU has been since 23 June 2016.
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:
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 Written Statement of 13 March 2018, Spring Statement, HCWS 540, if he will publish a list of where the £0.4 million in EU exit funding for his Department will be allocated.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
The Department has been allocated £0.4m for essential EU exit preparations in 2018-19. This will be spent on policy and legal work to ensure that Northern Ireland’s interests are fully represented, considered and managed across a range of subjects as the UK leaves the EU. As with all Reserve funding, finalised allocations will be confirmed at Supplementary Estimates 2018-19 in early 2019.
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 much time his Department spent in compiling impact assessments and other material for the sectoral analyses it provided to the Department for Exiting the European Union; how many FTE staff hours were dedicated to that compilation; and on what date his Department started and concluded its work on that compilation.
Answered by James Brokenshire
With regards to how many FTE staff hours were dedicated to the compilation, the Northern Ireland office does not hold this information in the form requested.
The Department for Exiting the European Union has satisfied the motion passed in the House of Commons by bringing together information for these reports. The Committee on Exiting the EU voted on Wednesday 6 December that the Government’s response to the resolution of the House of 1 November has complied with the terms of that resolution.
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 he will maintain co-operation between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland as required by the Good Friday Agreement when the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The Government is clear that the Belfast Agreement must be considered and safeguarded throughout the exit process, as a whole and in all its parts. We are, therefore, putting support for the Agreement at the heart of our approach. That is why we want to enshrine our support for the Agreement - and the citizenship rights it guarantees - in the UK’s withdrawal agreement.
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 discussions he has had with (a) cross-border bodies established under the Good Friday Agreement and (b) community and other third-sector organisations involved in cross-border co-operation on funding to maintain effective cross-border co-operation.
Answered by Chloe Smith
Maintaining effective North-South cross-border co-operation remains a key objective for the UK Government, both now, and as the UK leaves the EU, in accordance with the democratically expressed wishes of the people. For this reason, the Government’s Northern Ireland and Ireland Position Paper has clearly set out the need to focus in the initial phases of the Ireland Northern Ireland Dialogue on reaching a common understanding of the principles of North-South and East-West cooperation. Further, this Paper also makes clear our belief that the UK and the EU should be mindful of the full breadth of commitments made in the Belfast (‘Good Friday’) Agreement. It is for this reason we have proposed within the Paper that the UK and EU agree to the continuation of PEACE funding to Northern Ireland and border counties of Ireland. Work with a range of stakeholders continues to these ends.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, which EU legislation within his Department's responsibilities will (a) be incorporated into UK law through the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill and (b) require to be amended under powers in that Bill.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The European Union (Withdrawal) Bill will convert European Union law into UK law as it applies in the UK at the moment of exit. This will ensure that, wherever possible, the same rules and laws will apply the day after exit as they did before.
The Government is still making a detailed assessment of what corrections will be required to make that law function appropriately on exit day. The Government’s current estimate is that we will need to make between 800 and 1,000 statutory instruments to make exit a reality in UK law.
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 civil servants in each unit of his Department are in the redeployment pool.
Answered by Kris Hopkins
No civil servants in the Department are in a redeployment pool.
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 discussions his Department has had with the Irish government on the rights of Irish citizens in Northern Ireland after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by James Brokenshire
The UK Government’s relationship with the Irish Government has never been stronger. I regularly meet counterparts in the Irish Government and will continue to do so as we prepare for the UK’s exit from the EU.
The Government is committed to preserving the current reciprocal status of Irish citizens within the United Kingdom, including in Northern Ireland, as originally provided for in the Ireland Act 1949 and in subsequent legislation.
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 discussions he has had with the Irish government on the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on the relations between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
Answered by James Brokenshire
I refer the honourable Gentleman to the answer I gave to the honourable Member for Cheadle earlier today.