Asked by: Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrat - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how much his Department has spent to date on legal advice relating to Britain's exit from the EU from (a) the Government Legal Department and (b) external legal firms; and how much he plans to spend on such advice over the next 12 months.
Answered by Mark Garnier - Shadow Parliamentary Under Secretary (Energy Security and Net Zero)
DIT already has a strong and capable in-house legal team and has not needed to spend on external legal advice. In the next two years we will be developing our in-house team to build the expertise needed to deliver the best outcomes for the UK and position the UK as a global leader in free trade. We have also received many offers of pro bono support from the UK’s outstanding legal profession.
Asked by: Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrat - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many staff are on secondment to his Department from the private sector; from which companies they are seconded; what roles they perform; and what the cost to the public purse will be of their secondment.
Answered by Mark Garnier - Shadow Parliamentary Under Secretary (Energy Security and Net Zero)
Following her appointment on 13 July 2016 the Prime Minister established the Department for International Trade (DIT). The DIT aggregates UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), UK Export and Finance (UKEF), Trade Policy Units from the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS), as well as some new hires.
Until such time as a transfer of functions order establishes the Secretary of State as a corporation sole, DIT remains a unified Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) department for accounting purposes.
Since the department was formed in July there have been no secondees appointed from the Private Sector. Secondees previously in post with syndicate organisations have moved across to DIT on legacy terms as tabled below. These are seconded from a number of companies and occupy different roles across the department and across grades.
| DIT Secondees | Monthly Costs |
Trade Policy & Ministerial (BEIS) | 1 | £0.00 |
International Trade & Investment (UKTI) | *12 | £14,299.27 |
UK Export Finance | 0 | - |
Total | 13 | £14,299.27 |
* The majority of secondees are funded by seconding companies. Costs are based on collective monthly salaries of DIT funded secondees.
Asked by: Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrat - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many additional employees he plans to hire from outside the civil service for the purposes of negotiating or renegotiating trade deals as a result of the decision to leave the EU; in what roles such employees will be deployed; over what timescale their deployment will take place; and what the cost to the public purse will be of their deployment.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Department for International Trade has already established a strong and capable trade policy team with significant negotiating experience. The team has more than doubled in size since 23 June and is still growing. On 8th of September, my rt hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced an open and fair competition to recruit a new Permanent Secretary to lead the Department. We will continue to hire the brightest and best talent from within the UK civil service and from elsewhere in order to deliver the best outcomes for the UK.
Asked by: Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrat - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment he has made of the resources required by his Department to negotiate or renegotiate trade deals as a result of the decision to leave the EU in the next 12 months.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Department for International Trade already has a strong and capable trade policy team which has more than doubled in size since 23 June. In the next year we will be developing that team to build the world class negotiating strengths needed to deliver the best outcomes for the UK. They will have the depth and breadth of expertise to handle the full range of sectoral and cross-cutting issues that arise in trade agreements, supported by analysts and lawyers.
Asked by: Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrat - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much his Department has spent on legal advice related to the UK voting to leave the EU from (a) the Government Legal Service and (b) external legal firms; and how much he plans to spend on such advice over the next 12 months.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has not spent anything on external legal advice related to the UK voting to leave the EU.Asked by: Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrat - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what assessment he has made of the (a) financial and (b) other resources required by (i) the Government and (ii) his Department in the next 12 months related to the process of the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by David Jones
Detailed work is underway to establish the budget required for the Department for Exiting the European Union to fulfil its set-up and responsibilities. This budget will be voted on by Parliament at the Supplementary Estimate. Individual Secretaries of State will undertake an assessment of the requirements relevant to their own Departments.
Asked by: Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrat - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how much his Department has spent to date on legal advice from (a) the Government Legal Department and (b) external legal firms; and how much he plans to spend on such advice in the next 12 months.
Answered by David Jones
The department is currently assessing the overall requirement for legal advice and the associated funding requirement over the next 12 months . To date the department has incurred an estimated total of £256,000 in fixed fee legal advice with the Government Legal Department and a further £12,711 in relation to additional billed fees and disbursements. No spend has been incurred in relation to external legal firms.
Asked by: Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrat - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many additional employees he plans to hire from outside the Civil Service; what roles such employees will perform; over what timescale such employees will be employed; and what the cost to the public purse will be of such employment.
Answered by David Jones
The department has already started drawing together expertise from a wide range of civil service departments where there is specific relevant knowledge. Plans for recruiting from outside of the Civil Service are being considered and detailed work is underway to establish the Department’s future budget requirements, including for external recruitment.
Asked by: Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrat - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many staff are on secondment to his Department from the private sector; from which companies such staff have been seconded; what roles they perform; and what the cost to the public purse will be of such secondment.
Answered by David Jones
The department has not incurred any spend in relation to consultants since it was created. Detailed work is underway to establish the budget required to fulfil the functions, set-up and responsibilities of the Department.
Asked by: Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrat - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how much his Department has spent to date on consultants; and how much he plans to spend on consultants in the next 12 months.
Answered by David Jones
The department has not incurred any spend in relation to consultants since it was created. Detailed work is underway to establish the budget required to fulfil the functions, set-up and responsibilities of the Department.