Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to her Department’s announcement of the updated Developing Countries Trading Scheme on 15 August, which product lines were raised at least once by respondents to the consultation with reference over concerns of preference erosion for Least Developed Countries.
Answered by James Duddridge
The Developing Countries Trading Scheme is one of the most generous trade preferences schemes in the world and provides duty free access on everything but arms to Least Developed Counties.
During the consultation into the scheme in 2021, the majority of respondents that raised the issue of preference erosion for Least Developed Countries did not specify individual product lines of concern. Those that did, highlighted the following product lines: cocoa, sugar and bananas.
Tariffs remain unchanged for non-Least Developed Countries within the scheme on these product lines.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether the Minister of State for Trade Policy was officially representing her Department when she attended the Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue convened by the Hoover Institution and Annenberg Foundation Trust in California between 5 and 7 December 2021; and whether she was supported at that event by (a) officials and (b) briefing from her Department.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The Minister for Trade Policy attended the Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue as a UK Government representative at the request of the British Embassy Washington. The event was added to the Minister’s existing programme on her visit to a number of US States to advance UK-US interests. She was supported during the visit by UK Government officials.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many people held electronic purchasing cards that allowed them to make purchases against the budgets of (a) the Department for International Trade and (b) UK Export Finance as of 31 March 2022.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The number of people that hold electronic purchasing cards for the Department for International Trade (DIT) and UK Export Finance (UKEF) are as follows:
DIT – 180
UKEF - 5
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to the answer of 27 April 2022 to Question 155629 on Department for International Trade: Visits Abroad, for what reason the declaration of ministerial travel has not been updated as of 14 June 2022.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The updated declaration has now been published: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dit-ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings-october-to-december-2020.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the (a) procurement reference, (b) start date, (c) end date and (d) maximum value, inclusive of VAT, is of the contract that her Department has agreed with Manning Gottlieb OMD for the provision of strategic media activation services under the terms of the Crown Commercial Service's media services framework agreement reference RM6123.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The Crown Commercial Service’s (CCS’s) media services framework agreement (RM6123, Lot 1) is a single supplier framework with Manning Gottlieb OMD, for the provision of Strategic Media Activation. The supplier was appointed by CCS following a competitive process in December 2021. The Department for International Trade (DIT) has entered into a compliant call-off contract with the supplier, which is effective from 22 May 2022 until 12 December 2025. DIT’s contract reference is CR_1761 and it has a maximum value of £43,000,000 (excluding VAT) however it should be noted this is not a committed spend, only a contract ceiling.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether the Minister of State for Trade Policy was officially representing the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office when she attended the Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue convened by the Hoover Institution and Annenberg Foundation Trust in California from 5 to 7 December 2021; and whether she was supported at that event by (a) officials and (b) briefing from that Department.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The Minister for Trade Policy attended the Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue as a UK Government representative at the request of the British Embassy Washington. The event was added to the Minister’s existing programme on her visit to a number of US States to advance UK-US interests. She was supported during the visit by UK Government officials.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, for what reason meetings held by the Minister of State for Trade Policy at Sunnylands, California, between 5 and 7 December 2021 with representatives of the Hoover Institution, the Observer Research Foundation America and other external organisations were not declared in the list of ministerial meetings for October to December 2021 published by her Department on 31 March.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
I attended the Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue from the afternoon of the 5th December to the morning of the 7th, where I joined a number of open panel discussions. Conferences and multilateral events are not reported in transparency unless specific meetings were held in the margins – which was not the case on this occasion.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether all contracts agreed by UK Export Finance for the provision of Export Development Guarantees in 2020-21 and 2021-22 have included commitments from the recipients relating to the creation or protection of prescribed numbers of jobs in the UK.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The eligibility criteria for the Export Development Guarantee (EDG) and other products offered by UK Export Finance are set out on GOV.uk. Provision of an EDG, which is a form of debt financing rather than direct ownership requires evidence of exporting and a UK footprint but does not require specific commitments on job creation.
The terms of EDG-backed loans are negotiated with each borrower individually, and are commercially confidential. However, EDG-backed loans will typically contain provisions to ensure that the business receiving support remains substantially in the same form throughout the life of the loan.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to UK Export Finance: jobs supported analysis 2020-21, published on 22 June 2021, how many of the estimated (a) 107,000 jobs supported in the UK in 2020-21 and (b) 72,000 jobs supported in the UK in 2021-22 by UK Export Finance were attributable to the provision of Export Development Guarantees.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Using the methodology explained in detail on GOV.uk, the number of jobs estimated to have been supported by UK Export Finance through general working capital schemes (which comprises General Export Facility and Export Development Guarantee products) for the years 2020/21 and 2021/22 were 76,000 and 40,000 respectively.
Further information on the methodology applied can be found online at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-export-finance-jobs-supported-2020-to-2021/uk-export-finance-jobs-supported-analysis-2020-21 and www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-export-finance-economic-impacts-of-our-support-2021-22/uk-export-finance-economic-impacts-of-our-support-2021-22.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what total cost to the public purse, inclusive of VAT, was incurred by her Department between May 2018 and May 2022 for media buying services provided under the Crown Commercial Service's media buying framework agreement reference RM6003.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The Media Buying framework agreement (RM6003) started 7 November 2018 and ended 21 May 2022 and has now expired. The framework agreement was awarded to OMD Group Ltd (OmniGov) following a competitive tendering process in 2018. Customers used this framework agreement by putting in place a call-off contract.
The Department for International Trade (DIT) has spent £39.7m (excluding VAT, which is recoverable) under RM6003 between May 2018 and May 2022. This has delivered marketing campaigns both domestically and internationally, promoting British goods and services and working to secure investment into the UK.