Asked by: Ged Killen (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, if he will make an assessment of the implications for the Government's policies of the conclusions of the the paper, Northern Ireland and the UK’s Exit from the EU, What do people think, published by Queen’s University Belfast in May 2018.
Answered by Robin Walker
The Prime Minister reaffirmed her commitments at Mansion House, recognising the unique circumstances in Northern Ireland, and our shared commitments to avoiding a hard border, including any physical infrastructure and related checks and controls between Northern Ireland and Ireland. The Prime Minister has also been clear that we must ensure the same unfettered access for Northern Ireland’s business to the whole of the UK’s internal market. We want a deal that works for all parts of the community in Northern Ireland.
We have always been clear from the outset that the best way to achieve this is through the overall relationship between the UK and the EU. We agreed in the Joint Report that a backstop option to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland and maintain the economic integrity of the UK should be translated into legally binding text. The Prime Minister has been clear that the current drafting of the EU’s backstop proposal is unacceptable and we will bring forward our own proposal.
Asked by: Ged Killen (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether the Government plans to make it its policy to remove EU citizenship from UK citizens once the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Robin Walker
EU treaty provisions state that only citizens of EU Member States are able to hold EU citizenship. Therefore, when the UK ceases to be a member of the European Union, British nationals will no longer hold EU citizenship, unless they hold dual nationality with another EU Member State.
However, we know that in the future, many UK nationals will wish to continue to travel, live and work within the European Union, just as EU citizens will still wish to do so in the UK. We look forward to discussing our future relationship with the European Union, one which will work in the interest of both the UK and the EU.
Asked by: Ged Killen (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
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 21 December 2017 to Question 118696 on Brexit and the oral contribution of the Secretary of State for Scotland of 24 January 2018, what steps his Department is taking to make available the non-redacted sectoral reports to Members of the Scottish Parliament.
Answered by Robin Walker
We have provided sectoral information to Parliament as required by the motion passed by the House of Commons on 1 November 2017. As we made clear on the 21 December 2017 in answer to Question 118696, the same information was shared with the devolved administrations and the reports are now the property of the House of Commons Committee on Exiting the European Union. The Committee made these reports partially available at: https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/exiting-the-european-union-committee/publications/
The Department will continue to balance our commitment to transparency with the need to protect information which could undermine the UK’s ability to negotiate the best deal for the UK. Ministers have a specific responsibility, which Parliament has endorsed, not to release information that would undermine our negotiating position.
Asked by: Ged Killen (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what representations he has received from the social care sector on the effect of the UK leaving the EU on non-UK EU staff working in that sector.
Answered by Robin Walker
Ministers from the Department for Exiting the European Union have organised and undertaken more than 400 recorded engagements with business and civil society stakeholders from every sector of the British economy since July 2016. Details of ministerial meetings are published in the Department’s Quarterly Transparency Returns, which are publicly available on GOV.UK.
The Government’s sector report on Medical Services and Social Care sets out a description of the sector and the current EU regulatory regime. This report has now been published by the Exiting the EU Committee.
Asked by: Ged Killen (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether he plans to make available the sectoral analysis papers he provided to the Exiting the European Union Committee to members of the (a) Scottish Parliament, (b) the Northern Ireland Assembly and (b) members of the National Assembly for Wales; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Robin Walker
We have provided sectoral information to Parliament as required by the motion passed by the House of Commons on 1 November.
As we made clear in our written ministerial statement on 28 November, the same information was shared with the devolved administrations. You will be aware that under the Osmotherly Rules the reports are now the property of the aforementioned Committee. Therefore, you may wish to contact the Chair of the Commons Exiting the EU Committee directly.
Asked by: Ged Killen (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what the Government's policy is on ensuring non-EU nationals who are partners of UK nationals and became resident in the UK under EU freedom of movement laws can continue to live in the UK after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Robin Walker
As the Prime Minister has set out, we want to ensure that families who have built their lives together in the EU and UK are able to stay together. The Government’s policy paper “Safeguarding the position of EU citizens in the UK and UK nationals in the EU” sets out how it proposes to safeguard the position of EU citizens and their family members who are currently living in the UK under the Free Movement Directive (2004/38/EC) once we leave the EU.