Asked by: Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh (Scottish National Party - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what plans he has to provide information regularly to (a) hon. Members and (b) the public on the progress of those trade working groups which have been established in the last 12 months.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department for International Trade will engage with stakeholders over the coming weeks and months, and Parliament will have an important role to play in future UK trade deals. In line with normal international diplomatic practice, it would not be appropriate to routinely provide details of private diplomatic engagement with foreign governments.
Asked by: Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh (Scottish National Party - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with which countries he has established trade working groups in the last 12 months.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Ministers and officials in the Department for International Trade are working closely with counterparts across a wide range of markets, in order to promote the UK as a great place to do business and with which to trade. We have announced nine working groups in the last 12 months: with Australia, China, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Israel, India, New Zealand, Norway, Turkey and South Korea. The GCC comprises 6 countries: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. As the PM announced during her visit to Washington, we will also take forward high-level talks with the USA.
Asked by: Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh (Scottish National Party - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the average length of time taken to consider an application for a UK visa was in cases where an applicant referenced Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights in each of the last three years.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
I am sorry but ‘Article 8’ is not a specific Visa category. To answer this question would involve individual scrutiny of every application within the period. This would incur disproportionate cost.
Overall information on work in progress and performance against service standards for UKVI and Border Force is published in the Home Office’s transparency data, available at:
www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data
Asked by: Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh (Scottish National Party - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if the Government will offer credit guarantees to commercial shipping agents to ensure future food supplies to Yemen.
Answered by Mark Garnier
The Government is aware of the issue regarding Yemeni importers’ access to finance for food imports and continues to lobby all parties to the conflict to facilitate commercial access.
The Department for International Development (DfID) is providing £1.4 million for the UN Verification and Inspection Mechanism (UNVIM) to speed up the clearance process for ships, improve commercial confidence and reduce the price of basic goods. DfID officials are engaging with a range of partners to understand the issues for importer access to finance and explore potential solutions.
UK Export Finance has not been approached to provide credit guarantees for exports to Yemen, and is currently off cover due to the extremely poor risk outlook.
Asked by: Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh (Scottish National Party - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government has taken to ensure continuity of food deliveries by sea to all ports in Yemen.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
We continue to lobby all parties to the conflict to facilitate commercial and humanitarian access. The UK Government is providing £1.4 million for the UN Verification and Inspection Mechanism to speed up the clearance process for ships, which should in turn help with the continued delivery of food to Yemen by sea.
Asked by: Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh (Scottish National Party - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what technical assistance the Government has given the government of Yemen to help ensure that the Central Bank of Yemen remains fully operational while its headquarters is moved to Aden.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The UK is not providing direct technical assistance to the Central Bank of Yemen (CBY) in Aden. However, we are working closely with other donors to look at ways to support the CBY to continue to function, pay salaries across the country, and pay for essential food and fuel imports.
Asked by: Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh (Scottish National Party - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he first became aware of reports that UK-manufactured cluster bombs were used to target civilians in Yemen.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
My Rt Hon. Friend the then Foreign Secretary (Phillip Hammond) was made aware of reports that UK-made BL-755 cluster munitions were used in Yemen in an update to the Minister on May 23, 2016.
The current Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Mr Johnson) was aware of the allegations before entering the office. He was briefed by officials during his first month in office.
Asked by: Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh (Scottish National Party - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications (a) received, (b) accepted and (c) refused for UK visas have referred to rights under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights in each of the last three years.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
To answer this question would involve individual scrutiny of every application within the period. This would incur disproportionate cost.
Information on the numbers of Visas issued is available at:
www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release
Asked by: Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh (Scottish National Party - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, which international agreements, deals and memoranda of understanding the Government has signed with foreign governments relating to bilateral trade with the UK in the last 12 months.
Answered by Mark Garnier
The UK has entered into no bilateral free trade agreements with foreign governments over the last 12 months. While we remain members of the EU, the EU has competence for trade agreements. The UK will seek to take advantage of all the opportunities available to us to ensure that Britain becomes a global leader in free trade once we leave the EU.
DIT’s Colombia office has signed an MoU with the Colombian National Hydrocarbons Agency as part of the State Visit of President Santos. This MOU establishes linkages between the UK and Colombia as key strategic offshore hydrocarbons sector partners.
Asked by: Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh (Scottish National Party - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what inward investment levels have been in the UK in the last six months by (a) region and (b) sector.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
I refer the hon Member for Ochil and South Perthshire to the answer I gave to the hon Member for East Ham on 16 January 2017, UIN: 59624.