Asked by: Pat McFadden (Labour - Wolverhampton South East)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many (a) direct employees, (b) contractors, and (c) agency workers who work in their Department and relevant agencies and public bodies, receive a wage below that of either (i) the UK Real Living Wage outside of Greater London, or (ii) the London Living Wage inside of Greater London, as determined by the Living Wage Foundation.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The Department for International Trade does not have any direct employees, contractors or agency workers that receive a wage below the UK Real Living Wage outside of Greater London or the London Living Wage inside of Greater London.
Asked by: Pat McFadden (Labour - Wolverhampton South East)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many civil servants in his Department have direct previous experience of negotiating a free trade agreement.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Pat McFadden (Labour - Wolverhampton South East)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many civil servants in his Department previously worked for the European Commission on trade negotiations.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Pat McFadden (Labour - Wolverhampton South East)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many civil servants in his Department speak fluent (a) Mandarin, (b) Arabic, (c) Japanese and (d) Spanish.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for International Trade does not currently hold central data on the language skills of its workforce. Nevertheless, its workforce of over 3400 people operates successfully in over 108 markets. This requires a range of linguistic skills and abilities, especially in our overseas posts, which form part of the UK mission to that country.
Asked by: Pat McFadden (Labour - Wolverhampton South East)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether his Department has carried out any contingency planning for what happens if the UK leaves the EU without having reached an agreement at the WTO over the UK’s quota schedules.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK, as a full and founding World Trade Organization (WTO) member, already has agreed schedules of commitments for goods and services, by virtue of our membership of the European Union. We are not seeking to change the substance of those commitments although they will need updating for our independent membership, including Tariff Rate Quotas. We aim to have certified UK-only goods and services schedules of commitments by the point of EU exit. However, were it to take some time for these schedules to be certified, having uncertified schedules for a period would not hinder our ability to trade under them.
Asked by: Pat McFadden (Labour - Wolverhampton South East)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many (a) EU and (b) non-EU nationals are employed by his Department.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
All Government Departments are bound by legal requirements concerning the right to work in the UK and, in addition, the Civil Service Nationality Rules. Evidence of nationality is checked at the point of recruitment into the Civil Service as part of wider pre-employment checks, but there is no requirement on departments to retain this information beyond the point at which it has served its purpose. Once employed, employees are invited to disclose their nationality, however this is entirely voluntary. As such, there are no total figures for the department that can be provided.