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Written Question
Department for International Trade: Theft
Tuesday 20th December 2022

Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many of her Department's (a) laptops, (b) mobile phones, (c) memory sticks and (d) external hard drives have been lost or stolen in each of the last five years.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

All IT equipment issued by the department is encrypted. Any mobile device reported as lost is immediately deactivated and the contents remotely deleted. The user account on any laptop reported as lost is also immediately locked. Further investigation of lost devices is carried out where appropriate, including reporting the matter to the police. We are not aware of any data loss or compromise because of lost devices.


Written Question
Trade Agreements
Monday 7th November 2022

Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what proportion of UK international trade is covered by free trade agreements.

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

We have an ambitious programme of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations to help our nation become a truly Global Britain.  The UK Government has already secured trade agreements with 71 countries plus the EU, partners that accounted for 63.1% (£814bn) of UK bilateral trade in 2021. Our FTA programme continues at pace, with trade negotiations currently live with eight markets – India, the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Canada, Mexico, Israel and Greenland, as well as negotiating a Digital Trade Agreement with Ukraine.


Written Question
Department for International Trade: Civil Servants
Friday 14th October 2022

Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many civil servants worked on assisting businesses with EU trade matters in each of the past three years.

Answered by James Duddridge

As the Department for International Trade (DIT) has many initiatives to assist businesses in trading with the EU and beyond, it is difficult to provide exact numbers of staff who have assisted businesses. However, we do have staff in our Export Support Service (ESS), which acts as a single point of access for exporters through a digital enquiry service. We also have over 300 International Trade Advisers (ITAs) supporting small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) across England to build their exporting capability. Finally, DIT Europe Region has approximately 300 staff in 40 offices across 33 countries.


Written Question
English Language: Education
Tuesday 2nd August 2022

Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment she has made of the impact of leaving the European Union on the UK's English language teaching sector.

Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

I am aware of the importance of the European market for the UK’s English language teaching sector with three of the top 10 source markets EU member countries. My Department will continue to work closely with the sector through the International Education Strategy, including by providing support for English UK’s ‘English with Confidence’ campaign, and by hosting a number of European English language teaching (ELT) agents for an upcoming familiarisation visit.


Written Question
English Language: Education
Tuesday 2nd August 2022

Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to English UK's position paper Teaching the World: how the government can support our rebuilding strategy for UK ELT, published in May 2022, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of the findings of that report.

Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Department for International Trade (DIT) works very closely with English UK, who are members of the Education Sector Advisory Group that I co-chair with the Department for Education’s Skills Minister. DIT has provided support for English UK’s English with Confidence campaign, including through the production of promotional material and will be hosting around 50 overseas English language teaching (ELT) agents during an upcoming familiarisation visit. We will continue to ensure that the ELT sector’s recovery and ambition is captured in the Government’s International Education Strategy and will work through, with English UK, the implications of their recent position paper.


Written Question
Trade Agreements: Faroe Islands
Thursday 14th July 2022

Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of suspending the Trade Agreement with the Faroe Islands until she receives a legally binding commitment from the government of the Faroe Islands that it will cease all further whale and dolphin hunts.

Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

HM Government is strongly opposed to the hunting of whales and dolphins. Multiple government colleagues and I have raised this issue directly with the government of the Faroe Islands. The Faroes are reviewing the hunt and have recently proposed a catch limit for white-sided dolphins. The fact of our trade agreement strengthens our ability to have these full and frank discussions and influence on crucial issues like animal welfare. As these hunts are not illegal in local law, there are no provisions under the Free Trade Agreement for the UK to suspend it on this basis. We will continue to use our relationship to lobby the Faroes to stop this practice altogether.


Written Question
Trade Agreements: Gulf States
Wednesday 9th February 2022

Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to the ongoing free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations between the UK and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations and the Human Rights Watch annual report published on 13 January 2022 which documented serious human rights violations in all GCC countries, what steps the Government plans to take to ensure that any FTA with the GCC does not risk facilitating ongoing human rights violations in those countries.

Answered by Ranil Jayawardena

The Gulf Cooperation Council is a major trading partner of the United Kingdom, with an overall trade relationship worth £32.4 billion in 2020. HM Government has recently completed a consultation to hear the views of British businesses and the British people directly on a future trade deal with the GCC and will look carefully at the results. We are clear that more trade need not come at the expense of our values.


Written Question
Trade Agreements: India
Thursday 3rd February 2022

Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment he has made of the impact on the UK manufacturing industry of a free trade agreement with India.

Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons

On 13th January, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade formally launched UK-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations, during her visit to New Delhi. An ambitious UK-India FTA could boost UK exports by up to £16.7 billion across a range of sectors, in the long run. This could serve to benefit all nations and regions of the UK. Our analysis shows that UK manufacturers could stand to benefit from an agreement, particularly in the automotive and electrical equipment sectors.


Written Question
Beef: Austrailia
Tuesday 1st February 2022

Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to the Government’s assessment that Australian imports of beef will primarily displace EU imports as a result of the new free trade agreement, if she will publish results of research undertaken to assess the resultant impact on transport-related carbon emissions.

Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons

This is publicly available information: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-australia-fta-impact-assessment.


Written Question
Beef: Australia
Tuesday 1st February 2022

Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to the Government’s prediction that Australian imports of beef will primarily displace EU imports as a result of the new free trade agreement, whether her Department has assessed the resultant impact on transport-related carbon emissions.

Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons

This is publicly available information: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-australia-fta-impact-assessment.