Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps her Department is taking to prevent the import of goods sourced from illegal deforestation in the Amazon in future trade deals.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
Britain is committed to upholding her high environmental standards, including through environmental provisions within Free Trade Agreements.
HM Government continues to raise its concerns regarding deforestation regularly with international partners, and the importance of sustainable and resilient economies, most recently at the United Kingdom-Brazil Joint Economic and Trade Committee on 11th November.
We have committed over £250m through International Climate Finance programmes aimed at tackling deforestation in Brazil – including through our Partnerships for Forests programme, which supports environmentally-friendly farming and replanting projects in the Amazon – and we are introducing new legislation that requires large British companies to make sure forest risk commodities in their supply chains are sourced legally in producer countries.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what representations her Department made to the Government of Iran following threats made in the Iranian media in the last three months against her staff; what assessment she made of the causes of those threats and the likelihood of their being acted on; and what steps she has taken to protect her staff in Tehran.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
On 5th September 2020, a series of baseless allegations were made against a Crown servant by the Iranian news outlet, Tasnim.
DIT and the British Embassy in Iran have publicly challenged this disinformation, issued statements clarifying the position of the Crown servant concerned and made representations to the Iranian government about factually incorrect reporting concerning the activities of the British Council.
However, it is important to be clear that no threats have been made against Crown servants in Tehran. The security of our embassy in Tehran is overseen by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, who keep the security of diplomatic missions under constant review.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many claims UK Export Finance received by region in each month since January 2020; and how much UK Export Finance paid out in claims since 1 January 2020.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Between 1 January 2020 and 30 June 2020, UK Export Finance (UKEF) received claims related to 22 deals, broken down as follows
Month | No. of claims | Region(s) |
January | 0 |
|
February | 2 | 2 related to Asia |
March | 1 | 1 related to Asia |
April | 0 |
|
May | 4 | 2 related to the Americas 1 related to Asia 1 related to Europe |
June | 15 | 1 related to Africa 7 related to the Americas 5 related to Asia 2 related to Europe |
During that period, UKEF has paid out claims totalling USD 2,759,320.27.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many staff UK Export Finance has (a) in its compliance team and b) dedicated to work on anti-corruption due diligence.
Answered by Graham Stuart
There are currently five full time equivalent (FTE) staff in UK Export Finance’s Compliance Division, alongside a further team of four FTE staff who undertake financial crime (including bribery and corruption) due diligence screening on transactions.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many internal reports of suspicions of corruption have been made to UKEF's compliance Department in the last 12 months.
Answered by Graham Stuart
UK Export Finance’s (UKEF’s) Compliance Division has considered internal reports and referrals on around 40 transactions in the last 12 months. These do not always relate to active suspicions, however. UKEF has policies in place which require certain high-risk indicators and red flags to be referred to its Compliance Division for consideration and analysis.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many instances of suspected corruption or bribery UKEF has reported to law enforcement officials in the last 12 months.
Answered by Graham Stuart
UK Export Finance (UKEF) is not an investigatory body.
During the last twelve months UKEF has referred between 0 and 10 instances of suspected bribery to law enforcement officials.
The release of the exact numbers of businesses referred by UKEF to law enforcement authorities on suspicion of bribery or corruption may be likely to lead to the identification of an organisation, without any actual wrongdoing necessarily having been substantiated.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 2 March to Question 18399 on UK Export Finance: Environment Protection, how many applications for UK Export Finance support have been scrutinised by the Environmental, Social and Human Rights team in each of the past five years; and how many of those applications were rejected on environmental grounds.
Answered by Graham Stuart
All applications which fall within the scope of UK Export Finance’s (UKEF’s) environmental, social and human rights (ESHR) policy are reviewed for ESHR risks and impacts.
UKEF might be unable to provide support for a number of different reasons, including concern over environmental or related project matters.
For example, in 2016, following a decision by ministers, UKEF turned down an application to support a coal-fired power plant in Vietnam.
As a result of the presence of UKEF support, a project may meet higher ESHR standards than otherwise.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 13 February to Question 14007 on UK Export Finance: Fossil Fuels, what the (a) annual budget of and (b) number of full-time equivalent staff in the UK Export Finance Environmental, Social and Human Rights team was in each of the last five years.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The numbers of full-time equivalent members of staff in the environmental, social and human rights team at the end of each of the last four years, and on 28 February 2020, were as follows:
| Full-time equivalent staff in post |
28 February 2020 | 6 |
31 March 2019 | 7 |
31 March 2018 | 4 |
31 March 2017 | 4 |
31 March 2016 | 4 |
The annual budget for the team for the last five years was as follows:
a) Year | b) Team budget (excluding salary costs in column (c) | c) Mean salary costings, grossed for tax, NI and pension contributions[1] |
2019/20 | £ 100,000 | £ 445,691.40 |
2018/19 | £ 50,000 | £ 477,055.60 |
2017/18 | £ 150,000 | £ 294,106.40 |
2016/17 | £ 150,000 | £ 274,666.00 |
2015/16 | £ 150,000 | £ 284,144.00 |
[1] The figures quoted are the median grade salaries for the numbers of each member of UKEF staff in post on the ESHR Team at the end of each financial year, ‘grossed up’ to account for tax, national insurance contributions and pension contributions.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 13 February 2020 to Question 14007 on UK Export Finance: Fossil Fuels, how many meetings officials in the UK Export Finance Environmental, Social and Human Rights team have held with representatives from the (a) Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and (b) Committee on Climate Change in each of the last five years.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Representatives from across UK Export Finance (UKEF), regularly meet officials from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to discuss strategic, operational and specific project-related matters. This includes issues relating to climate concerns, fossil fuels and the transition away from fossil fuels.
As the Committee for Climate Change has a domestic focus, UKEF has not engaged with it.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Highgate)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether she plans to reduce the number of oil and gas projects supported through UK Export Finance; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Graham Stuart
UK Export Finance (UKEF) helps UK companies of all sizes and across all sectors to win, fulfil and receive payment for export contracts.
The UK’s oil and gas sector is a vital part of the UK’s economy, supporting around 300,000 jobs. UKEF’s support has helped to sustain UK jobs in a sector that has seen low investment due to fluctuating and reduced oil prices, but remains vital to the UK’s energy security.
Many businesses in the oil and gas industry are actively engaging with the transition to a low carbon economy, applying world-leading skills and expertise to offshore wind development. UKEF is well placed to support companies through this transition to a low carbon economy.