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Written Question
Economic Cooperation: South Carolina
Wednesday 15th February 2023

Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many meetings her (a) Ministers and (b) officials had with car manufacturers on the memorandum of understanding between the UK and South Carolina before the signing of that agreement.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

Government officials and Ministers regularly engage with the automotive industry to support the growth of British businesses and address market access barriers.

UK sector experts in the US engaged regularly with industry representatives in the formulation of the UK-South Carolina Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). Trade officials further engaged the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders and other industry representatives through the Department’s established Trade Advisory Groups. The UK will continue to engage industry in the delivery of this MOU in 2023.


Written Question
Department for International Trade: Staff
Monday 13th February 2023

Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, in which countries does her Department employ staff based in UK (a) embassies (b) consulates.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

As of 31 January 2023, this department employed UK-based staff in UK embassies in the following countries:

Algeria, Azerbaijan, Chile, China, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kuwait, Mexico, Morocco, Oman, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Myanmar.

UK-based staff in UK consulates in the following countries:

Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United States, Vietnam.


Written Question
Trade Advisory Groups
Monday 6th February 2023

Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, when her Department last met the (a) Strategic Trade Advisory Group, (b) Civil Society Roundtable, (c) Trade Advisory Groups and (d) Thematic Working Groups.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Strategic Trade Advisory Group and Civil Society Roundtable last met on 13 June 2022. There are eleven Trade Advisory Groups and the most recent meeting for a group took place on 2 December 2022. There are ten Thematic Working Groups, and the most recent meeting was on 26 January 2023.


Written Question
Trade Agreements: Monitoring
Monday 30th January 2023

Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps her Department will take to monitor the impact of newly implemented free trade agreements on (a) the climate, (b) labour rights and (c) human rights; and if she will make a statement.

Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Newly implemented trade agreements provide for institutional mechanisms for compliance monitoring of labour and climate provisions. The Department for International Trade has established independent advisory bodies to monitor compliance and advise on the implementation of climate and labour provisions.


Written Question
Trade Agreements
Monday 30th January 2023

Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how often her Department plans to conduct ex-post evaluations of the implementation of new free trade agreements.

Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The government has committed to publishing evaluations of each of the UK-Japan, UK-Australia and UK-New Zealand agreements, within 5 years of each agreement’s entry into force.


Written Question
Department for International Trade: Redundancy Pay
Monday 23rd January 2023

Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many Ministers in her Department received ministerial severance pay for leaving office in 2022.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

Under the Ministerial and Other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991, eligible Ministers who leave office are entitled to a one-off payment equivalent to one quarter of their annual salary at the point at which they leave Government.

Details of such payments are published in the departmental annual reports and accounts, and ministerial salaries are published on GOV.UK at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministerial-salary-data/salaries-of-members-of-his-majestys-government-april-2022-html


Written Question
Trade Agreements: Dispute Resolution
Friday 20th January 2023

Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether her Department has included the potential implications of the Government's net zero policy in her Department's internal analysis of the cost-benefit of investor state dispute settlements.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) does not hinder the Government’s ability to regulate in the public interest, including with regards to the environment. The right to regulate is also recognised in international law.

The UK has around 90 bilateral investment treaties in place with other countries and there has never been a successful ISDS claim brought against the UK, nor has the threat of potential claims affected the Government’s legislative programme.


Written Question
Paraquat: Exports
Friday 20th January 2023

Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether she has had recent discussions with the (a) Health and Safety Executive and (b) Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the export of paraquat.

Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Secretary of State for International Trade has not had any recent discussions with the Health and Safety Executive or the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the export of paraquat.


Written Question
Department for International Trade: Freedom of Information
Thursday 19th January 2023

Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many freedom of information requests submitted to her Department are outside the statutory timeframe for a response as of 9 January 2023.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

As at 09 January there were 4 overdue FOI requests awaiting reply to the requester. These are now cleared and there are no outstanding FOIs at present.


Written Question
Arms Trade: Export Controls
Thursday 19th January 2023

Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment her Department has made in the last twelve months of the adequacy of the UK's arms export controls.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

Export controls are kept under regular review to ensure that they continue to properly address the threats we face, keep pace with new technologies, and adapt to changing circumstances, while providing an efficient service which does not impose an unworkable administrative burden on the defence and security industry. HM Government is satisfied that the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria provides a thorough risk assessment framework for assessing all export licence applications. An export licence will not be granted (or, if extant, it would be revoked) if incompatible with the Criteria.