Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many meetings he has had with trades unions since July 2016.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
Stakeholder engagement is a central element of our ongoing plan to negotiate a successful outcome and achieve the best deal for the UK and the EU. We are committed to hearing from as many organisations, companies and institutions as possible, including trade unions.
One of the Secretary of State’s first meetings following the Department’s creation was with the General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress. The Secretary of State for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial also meets the Trades Union Congress regularly.
Details of Ministerial meetings are published in the Department’s Quarterly Transparency Returns, which are made publicly available on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many meetings he has had with the chief executive of NHS England since July 2016.
Answered by Robin Walker
The Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union has not had any meetings with Simon Stevens, the Chief Executive of NHS England, since July 2016. However, the Secretary of State for Health has regular meetings with Mr Stevens on a range of topics, including on preparations for the UK’s Exit from the EU, and Department of Health (DH) officials are working closely with NHS England to prepare for EU exit.
The Department for Exiting the European Union works closely with every department, including DH, to build a detailed understanding of how withdrawal will affect domestic policies and to ensure preparations are being made across government both for a negotiated settlement and for the unlikely scenario in which no mutually satisfactory agreement can be reached.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, on how many occasions the European Commission has begun infringement proceedings against the UK Government.
Answered by Robin Walker
The information requested is publicly available on the website of the European Commission where the infringement cases for each member state can be found. This includes the infringement and the decision. These records go back to 2002 and can be found here: http://ec.europa.eu/atwork/applying-eu-law/infringements-proceedings/infringement_decisions/?lang_code=en
The United Kingdom has never been fined under EU infringement proceedings.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether he has received evidence of EU nationals facing discrimination in access to services in the UK as a result of the lack of clarity on their future legal status; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)
There will be no change to the rights and status of EU nationals living in the UK, nor UK nationals living in the EU, while the UK remains in the EU. This means there will be no change to the ability of EU nationals to access services as they do now whilst the UK is an EU member state.
Our clear intention during negotiations is to ensure that EU citizens living in the UK before the specified date will continue to enjoy access to public services after we leave the EU.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with reference to paragraph 6 of the Government's policy paper entitled, Safeguarding the position of EU citizens in the UK and UK nationals in the EU, published on 26 June 2017, whether EU family dependents of UK citizens who return to the UK after the specified date will be subject to the immigration rules in respect of their family members; and whether there will be different rules in relation to EU and non-EU national family members.
Answered by Robin Walker
As set out in the Government policy paper of 26 June Safeguarding the position of EU citizens living in the UK and UK nationals living in the EU, we want to provide as much certainty as possible to the three million EU citizens in the UK and around one million UK nationals in the EU, and for their lives to continue broadly as now. The precise rules around family reunion will be a matter for negotiations.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
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 20 July 2017 to Question 5539, whether the UK will continue to aggregate periods of relevant insurance, work or residence within the EU accrued after exit, for those who entered into such arrangements before the specified date.
Answered by Robin Walker
During the August negotiation round, we agreed that contributions before and after exit will be recognised for those covered by the Withdrawal Agreement.
We have discussed EU social security coordination rules with the EU during the July and August negotiation rounds. The progress of these discussions has been set out in the published joint comparison table. It can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/641334/2017-08-30_-_EU_UK_Comparison_Table_CR_AUGUST_day_2_FINAL_AGREED_VERSION_AGREED_with_Cion_V2.2.pdf
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with reference to paragraph 42 of the Government's policy paper entitled Safeguarding the position of EU citizens in the UK and UK nationals in the EU, published on 26 June 2017, whether UK citizens and their family members covered by EC Regulation 883/2004 on the coordination of social security systems who, at the date of entry into force of the Withdrawal Agreement, are in receipt of exportable benefits such as attendance allowance, carer's allowance, disability living allowance or winter fuel payments will continue to enjoy receipt of those benefits; and whether after the date of entry into force of the Withdrawal Agreement, any new claimants from UK citizens living and working in the EU will have their eligibility for those exportable benefits continued indefinitely.
Answered by Robin Walker
The Government has made clear in its offer on Citizens’ Rights that it intends to protect the right of UK nationals and EU migrants already exporting a benefit at the specified date to continue to be able to export that benefit when the UK exits the EU, subject to on-going entitlement to the benefit.
In most cases, UK nationals in other EU Member States are currently entitled to receive benefits from the country in which they are living and working. What happens to these arrangements after exit is a matter to be discussed with our EU partners.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :
To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what plans he has made to prevent UK nationals from being separated from their families if they become unable to continue to reside and work in an EU state of residence as a result of the outcome of negotiations on the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by Robin Walker
As set out in our policy paper of 26 June, we want to provide as much certainty as possible to the three million EU citizens in the UK and around one million UK nationals in the EU, and for their lives to continue broadly as now. The precise rules around family reunion will be a matter for negotiations. Both the UK and EU have set out to provide reassurance that families should not be disrupted by this process and we are confident that a deal can be achieved.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
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 20 July 2017 to Question 5540, whether he plans for there to be a free-standing right to equal treatment in UK law once the UK has left the EU.
Answered by Robin Walker
The Charter of Fundamental Rights simply reaffirms rights which already exist in EU law, including the principle that everyone is equal before the law. As EU law and Court of Justice EU case law will be preserved as provided for in the EU (Withdrawal) Bill: it is the Government’s intention that the removal of the Charter from UK law will not affect the substantive rights that individuals already benefit from in the UK, as the Charter was never in itself the source of those rights.
The protections covered in domestic equality legislation, such as the Equality Act 2006, the Equality Act 2010 and equivalent legislation in Northern Ireland, will continue to apply once the UK has left the European Union.
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
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 12 July 2017 to Question 3555, what period of absence from the UK will constitute a gap in continuous residence for the purpose of obtaining settled status.
Answered by Robin Walker
In line with the current requirements under the Free Movement Directive, a person may be absent for up to 6 months in a year, in order to continue to accrue the five years’ continuous residence.
We are prepared to offer flexibility in respect of citizens with strong ties in the UK, for example, students who are studying abroad or workers on an overseas posting if the EU offers similar flexibility on this point.