Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the recommendations of the Committee on the Future Relationship with the European Union's report entitled, The Shape of Future Parliamentary Scrutiny of UK-EU Relations, published on 14 January 2020, what steps his Department is taking to ensure effective future scrutiny of the UK-EU relationship.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
The Government will be responding to the report in due course.
The Trade and Cooperation Agreement establishes a set of committees to oversee its operation.
We are committed to facilitating parliamentary scrutiny of our new relationship with the EU as we do with other international agreements.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, when she plans to publish the text of the Economic Partnership Agreement secured with Cameroon on 30 December 2020, together with an accompanying explanatory memorandum and parliamentary report.
Answered by Greg Hands
The United Kingdom and Cameroon have each agreed to temporarily give effect to the preferences under the UK-Cameroon Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) from 1 January. A time-limited bridging mechanism in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding has been applied, pending completion of domestic scrutiny processes for entry into force of the EPA.
We have published a Technical Note in Parliament, which can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/947282/cnc-information-note-dec2021.pdf setting out further detail and our assessment of the use of Bridging Mechanisms for implementing agreements.
Despite the exceptional circumstances which made this approach necessary to ensure continuity of trade, we will lay this agreement in Parliament under the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act (CRaG) as soon as possible. The accompanying Parliamentary Report and Explanatory Memorandum will also be published when this Agreement is laid in Parliament.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, when she plans to publish the Memorandum of Understanding on interim trading arrangements with Cameroon, which came into force on 1 January 2021.
Answered by Greg Hands
The United Kingdom and Cameroon have each agreed to temporarily give effect to the preferences under the UK-Cameroon Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) from 1 January. A time-limited bridging mechanism in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding has been applied, pending completion of domestic scrutiny processes for entry into force of the EPA.
We have published a Technical Note in Parliament, which can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/947282/cnc-information-note-dec2021.pdf setting out further detail and our assessment of the use of Bridging Mechanisms for implementing agreements.
Despite the exceptional circumstances which made this approach necessary to ensure continuity of trade, we will lay this agreement in Parliament under the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act (CRaG) as soon as possible. The accompanying Parliamentary Report and Explanatory Memorandum will also be published when this Agreement is laid in Parliament.
Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the level of influence that the UK electorate will have over new trade deals.
Answered by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel
HM Government will always negotiate Free Trade Agreements that best serve the interests of Britain’s businesses, consumers and communities.
As champions of the British people, Parliamentarians have a key role to play in our new independent trade policy. That is why HM Government is engaging with Parliament – and others from across the country – at all stages of our trade negotiations with Australia, New Zealand and the United States. Our approach provides for strong levels of scrutiny when compared to similar parliamentary democracies and is appropriate to our constitutional arrangements.
The Department for International Trade will continue to make sure that future Free Trade Agreements are negotiated and implemented subject to such scrutiny, whilst protecting the national interest.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether she has made an assessment of the implications for her policies of the recommendations on the scrutiny of international trade negotiations in the report report of the Global Economic Governance Programme entitled UK scrutiny of international trade agreements.
Answered by Greg Hands
Parliament will be able to conduct scrutiny at every stage of the process in a way that is appropriate and proportionate to the British constitutional context.
In the United Kingdom, the power to negotiate and enter into treaties are prerogative powers held by HM Government. That said, we have gone well beyond the statutory framework for the scrutiny of treaties set out in the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010.
Our approach strikes the right balance between allowing Parliament to scrutinise our trade policy effectively, and maintaining the ability of HM Government to negotiate with agility in the best interests of the United Kingdom. We have, of course, considered the approach of other international systems, including the United States, but comparisons must focus on countries that use the Westminster model to draw meaningful best practice that is appropriate to our constitutional arrangements.
When similar parliamentary democracies are compared to the United Kingdom, it is clear our practice is very strong and entirely appropriate to our constitutional arrangements. For example, as the report the Hon. Gentlemen refers to states, the United Kingdom is one of the few jurisdictions to publish impact assessments at the outset of negotiations.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to the Government’s command paper, Processes for making free trade agreements after the United Kingdom has left the European Union, CP 63, published in February 2019, whether the proposals in that paper remain Government policy.
Answered by Greg Hands
This Government is committed to building a transparent trade policy, which is subject to robust and appropriate parliamentary scrutiny. We have made and fulfilled commitments to transparency, including publishing objectives and economic scoping assessments for our proposed Free Trade Agreements. These commitments are already being fulfilled as per the publication of our objectives for UK-US and UK-Japan negotiations on 2 March and 13 May respectively.
We have also committed to keeping Parliament and the public informed of progress on our negotiations via regular updates and to work closely with the appropriate scrutiny Committees in both Houses. At the end of negotiations, we will lay a final impact assessment prior to ratification under the statutory framework provided for by the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether she will bring the Government’s negotiating objectives before Parliament in advance of future trade discussions; and whether hon Members will have a meaningful vote on the objectives for those trade discussions.
Answered by Greg Hands
The Government is committed to the principle of effective parliamentary scrutiny. We have provided extensive information to Parliament on our negotiations, including publishing our objectives prior to the start of talks and holding open briefings for MPs and Peers at the launch of US and Japan talks.
We will continue to keep Parliament updated on negotiations as they progress, including close engagement with the International Trade Committee and the Lords International Agreements Committee.
This approach strikes the right balance between respecting the UK constitution, ensuring that Government can negotiate in the best interests of the UK; and ensuring that Parliament has the information it needs to effectively scrutinise our trade policy.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent steps she has taken to help enable parliamentary scrutiny of future free trade agreements.
Answered by Conor Burns
The Government is committed to ensuring that our trade policy is transparent and subject to appropriate scrutiny. Parliament will have the opportunity to scrutinise both UK-EU and UK-Rest of World negotiations. My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade made a Written Ministerial Statement on 6 February, HCWS101, setting out the Government’s proposed approach to free trade agreements (FTAs) with priority partners including the USA, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. This set out that we will publish negotiating objectives accompanied by an initial economic assessment, as well as the Government response to the public consultation. There will be further statements made in the coming weeks, setting out our plans for FTAs with global partners.
Asked by: Lord Grocott (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker which House of Lords Committee reports, published since the EU Referendum in 2016, have been directly related to the UK's departure from the EU, excluding reports by (1) the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee, and (2) the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments.
Answered by Lord McFall of Alcluith
Since 23 June 2016 the following committees have published the following reports directly related to the UK’s departure from the EU. These include reports on legislation and treaties which are directly concerned with the Brexit process.
Constitution Committee (2016–17)
The invoking of Article 50 (4th report, HL Paper 44)
European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill (8th report, HL Paper 119)
The ‘Great Repeal Bill’ and delegated powers (9th report, HL Paper 123)
Constitution Committee (2017–19)
European Union (Withdrawal) Bill: interim report (3rd report, HL Paper 19)
Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill [HL] (8th report, HL Paper 39)
European Union (Withdrawal) Bill (9th report, HL Paper 69)
Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Bill (10th report, HL Paper 80)
Haulage Permits and Trailer Registration Bill [HL] (11th report, HL Paper 90)
Trade Bill (13th report, HL Paper 193)
Healthcare (International Arrangements) Bill (18th report, HL Paper 291)
European Union (Withdrawal) (No.5) Bill (19th report, HL Paper 339)
Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee (2016–17)
European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill (18th report, HL Paper 118)
Special Report: Submission to the House of Commons Procedure Committee inquiry on delegated powers in the “Great Repeal Bill” (23rd report, HL Paper 143)
Special Report: Second Submission to the House of Commons Procedure Committee inquiry on delegated powers in the “Great Repeal Bill” (30th report, HL Paper 164)
Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee (2017–19)
European Union (Withdrawal) Bill (3rd report, HL Paper 22)
Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill (7th report, HL Paper 38)
Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill (Government response); scrutiny of delegated legislation under the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill (correspondence) (10th report, HL Paper 58)
Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Bill; Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill (Government response (11th report, HL Paper 65)
European Union (Withdrawal) Bill (12th report, HL Paper 73)
Nuclear Safeguards Bill (13th report, HL Paper 77)
Haulage Permits and Trailer Registration Bill (15th report, HL Paper 84)
Nuclear Safeguards Bill (Government response) (17th report, HL Paper 102)
European Union (Withdrawal) Bill (Government response); Haulage Permits and Trailer Registration Bill (Government response) (20th report, HL Paper 119)
European Union (Withdrawal) Bill (correspondence) (22nd report, HL Paper 123)
European Union (Withdrawal) Bill (Government amendments) (23rd report, HL Paper 124)
European Union (Withdrawal) Bill (Further government amendments) (24th report, HL Paper 128)
Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill (Consideration of Commons Amendments); European Union (Withdrawal) Bill (correspondence) (26th report, HL Paper 140)
Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill (Government response) (28th report, HL Paper 147)
Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Bill (Government response) (32nd report, HL Paper 181)
Trade Bill (33rd report, HL Paper 186)
Agriculture Bill (34th report, HL Paper 194)
Fisheries Bill; Healthcare (International Arrangements) Bill (39th report, HL Paper 226)
Fisheries Bill (Government response) (45th report, HL Paper 274)
Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (46th report, HL Paper 275)
Healthcare (International Arrangements) Bill; Healthcare (International Arrangements) Bill (Government response) (47th report, HL Paper 289)
Healthcare (International Arrangements) Bill (changed to Healthcare (European Economic Area and Switzerland Arrangements) Bill) (Government response) (50th report, HL Paper 336)
European Union (Withdrawal)(No.5) Bill (51st report, HL Paper 340)
European Union (Withdrawal)(No.6) Bill (61st report, HL Paper 418)
Economic Affairs Committee (2017–19)
Brexit and the Labour Market (1st report, HL Paper 11)
European Union Committee (2016–17)
Scrutinising Brexit: the role of Parliament (1st report, HL Paper 33)
Brexit: parliamentary scrutiny (4th report, HL Paper 50)
Brexit: the options for trade (5th report, HL Paper 72)
Brexit: UK-Irish relations (6th report, HL Paper 76)
Brexit: future UK-EU security and police cooperation (7th report, HL Paper 77)
Brexit: fisheries (8th report, HL Paper 78)
Brexit: financial services (9th report, HL Paper 81)
Brexit: acquired rights (10th report, HL Paper 82)
Brexit: environment and climate change (12th report, HL Paper 109)
Brexit: Gibraltar (13th report, HL Paper 116)
Brexit: UK-EU movement of people (14th report, HL Paper 121)
Brexit and the EU budget (15th report, HL Paper 125)
Brexit: trade in goods (16th report, HL Paper 129)
Brexit: justice for individuals, families and businesses? (17th report, HL Paper 134)
Brexit: trade in non-financial services (18th report, HL Paper 135)
Brexit: the Crown Dependencies (19th report, HL Paper 136)
Brexit: agriculture (20th report, HL Paper 169)
European Union Committee (2017–19)
Brexit: the EU data protection package (3rd report, HL Paper 7)
Brexit: devolution (4th report, HL Paper 9)
Brexit: farm animal welfare (5th report, HL Paper 15)
Brexit: judicial oversight of the European Arrest Warrant (6th report, HL Paper 16)
Brexit: deal or no deal (7th report, HL Paper 46)
Brexit: sanctions policy (8th report, HL Paper 50)
Brexit: will consumers be protected? (9th report, HL Paper 51)
Brexit: energy security (10th report, HL Paper 63)
Brexit: the future of financial regulation and supervision (11th report, HL Paper 66)
Brexit: competition and State aid (12th report, HL Paper 67)
Brexit: reciprocal healthcare (13th report, HL Paper 107)
Brexit: food prices and availability (14th report, HL Paper 129)
Dispute resolution and enforcement after Brexit (15th report, HL Paper 130)
Brexit: Common Security and Defence Policy missions and operations (16th report, HL Paper 132)
UK-EU relations after Brexit (17th report, HL Paper 149)
Brexit: the proposed UK-EU security treaty (18th report, HL Paper 164)
Brexit: movement of people in the cultural sector (19th report, HL Paper 182)
Brexit: the customs challenge (20th report, HL Paper 187)
Brexit: plant and animal biosecurity (21st report, HL Paper 191)
Brexit: chemical regulation (23rd report, HL Paper 215)
Brexit: the Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration (24th report, HL Paper 245)
Brexit: the European Investment Bank (25th report, HL Paper 269)
Scrutiny of international agreements; treaties considered on 5 February 2019 (27th report, HL Paper 282)
Brexit: the Erasmus and Horizon programmes (28th report, HL Paper 283)
Scrutiny of international agreements; treaties considered on 12 February 2019 (29th report, HL Paper 287)
Scrutiny of international agreements; treaties considered on 20 February 2019 (30th report, HL Paper 296)
Scrutiny of international agreements; treaties considered on 26 February 2019 (31st report, HL Paper 300)
Scrutiny of international agreements; treaties considered on 5 March 2019 (32nd report, HL Paper 306)
Scrutiny of international agreements; treaties considered on 12 March 2019 (33rd report, HL Paper 315)
Scrutiny of international agreements; treaties considered on 19 March 2019 (34th report, HL Paper 321)
Beyond Brexit: how to win friends and influence people (35th report, HL Paper 322)
Scrutiny of international agreements; treaties considered on 3 April 2019 (36th report, HL Paper 337)
Scrutiny of international agreements; treaties considered on 9 April 2019 (37th report, HL Paper 342)
Scrutiny of international agreements; treaties considered on 30 April 2019 38th report, HL Paper 349)
Brexit: road, rail and maritime transport (39th report, HL Paper 355)
Scrutiny of international agreements; treaties considered on 14 May 2019 (40th report, HL Paper 362)
Scrutiny of international agreements; treaties considered on 11 June 2019 (41st report, HL Paper 379)
Scrutiny of international agreements: treaties considered on 9 July 2019 (44th report, HL Paper 402)
Scrutiny of international agreements: treaties considered on 23 July 2019 (45th report, HL Paper 416)
Scrutiny of international agreements: treaties considered on 9 September 2019 (46th report, HL Paper 421)
Scrutiny of international agreements: treaties considered on 7 October 2019 (47th report, HL Paper 427)
Brexit: refugee protection and asylum policy (48th report, HL Paper 428)
European Union Committee (2019–20)
Scrutiny of international agreements: treaties considered on 21 October 2019 (1st report, HL Paper 6)
Brexit: the financial settlement (2nd report, HL Paper 7)
Science and Technology Committee (2016–17)
A time for boldness: EU membership and UK science after the referendum (1st report, HL Paper 85)
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Independent - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what plans he has to ensure that (a) hon. Members, (b) NGOs and (c) Trade Unions are able to fully scrutinise future potential trade deals.
Answered by George Hollingbery
On 28 February we published further proposals on transparency and scrutiny of FTAs. During negotiations for future free trade agreements we will publish and lay before Parliament a Round Report following each substantive round of negotiations. This Round Report will also be published online in an accessible format. We will also publish an Annual Trade Report covering progress across the full programme of negotiations. We announced our intention to work closely with a parliamentary committee to put in place measures to ensure effective parliamentary scrutiny throughout the process.
Alongside our regular engagement with stakeholders, we have set up the Strategic Trade Advisory Group, which was recently announced. Another formal engagement mechanism we are setting up is Expert Trade Advisory Groups. Both of these mechanisms are designed to seek expert insight on strategic trade policy issues, including future trade agreements. These groups will represent a variety of interests, including representatives of trade unions and NGOs.