Lord Price: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on commodity producers in developing countries; and what support they plan to provide such producers.
Lord Price: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on different age groups.
Lord Price: My Lords, as this is the first time that I have spoken in your Lordships’ House since I stepped down as the Minister for Trade Policy, I will start by congratulating the Minister on her appointment and wish her every success. I also thank the dedicated, hard-working and extremely able civil servants who supported me during my time in office, in particular Rob Cook and latterly Matt Fry, who...
Lord Price: (1) There are 135 non-EU WTO members. The UK’s trade in services with WTO members is covered by the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). On joining GATS, each WTO Member makes its own specific commitments to providing services market access and non-discriminatory treatment. These commitments are made sector-by-sector. Additionally, eighteen non-EU WTO members have made commitments...
Lord Price: In 2016, the value of UK goods exported by the aerospace industry (CPA category 30.3) was £29.6 billion and by the motor industry (CPA category 29) was £40.1 billion. Data on services exported by the aerospace and motor industries are not available. Source: ONS UK trade in goods by classification of product by activity (CPA), published 14 June 2017.
Lord Price: Training on trade policy and trade negotiations is provided predominately by the Trade Policy and Negotiations Faculty. The role of the Faculty is to build trade policy and negotiations capability in Departments across Her Majesty's Government. To date over 200 DIT staff have undertaken trade policy training offered by the Trade Faculty or organised directly by DIT. The Faculty has a...
Lord Price: The Department for International Trade (DIT) has paid £1.15m to organisations for services relating to the recruitment of staff since July 2016. Recruitment costs are managed locally by the functional areas of DIT; there is no central budget for recruitment. My noble friend a copy of the figures relating to the Department for Exiting the European Union will be placed in the library of the...
Lord Price: (1) The total amount that the Department for International Trade has spent on external legal services since the beginning of July 2016 is £135, 974.30.. (2) Department for International Trade has budgeted 1.5 million pounds in 2017/18 for external legal services that may be required.
Lord Price: HMG has discussed the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) with China as part of our regular engagement, including at ministerial level. The UK is a ‘natural partner’ on BRI, as it is home to the world’s leading financial centre, with strengths in key professional services and close relationships with many of the countries involved. We will work proactively to maximise opportunities for UK...
Lord Price: Since July 2016 the Department for International Trade (DIT) has paid £1,723,675 on learning and development. DIT has a training budget of £2.1m for 2017-18; this budget covers a range of learning and development opportunities for staff. DIT staff attend training provided by the Trade Policy and Negotiations Faculty. The role of the Faculty is to build trade policy and negotiations...
Lord Price: The Department for International Trade does not directly recruit in house lawyers. Currently there are approximately 20 Government Legal Department lawyers working for the benefit of the Department for International Trade.
Lord Price: The Department for International Trade has a total travel budget of £7,607,409 for 2017-18. The budgeting and forecast process is subject to on-going review on a quarterly process when budgets can be re-aligned to reflect changes in priorities.
Lord Price: The Government will create a network of Her Majesty's Trade Commissioners to head nine new regional overseas posts. These Commissioners will bring together export promotion, investment, and trade policy overseas. The Department is currently finalising the scope of the roles and will begin recruitment shortly.
Lord Price: On 1 July 2017 the Department for International Trade, including UK Export Finance, employed and paid via payroll a total of 2,624 people. That total includes 1,268 people who are based overseas.
Lord Price: The Department for International Trade running costs budget for 2017–18 is £379.3m.
Lord Price: The Department for International Trade running costs for 2016-17 is £351m. This figure will be included in the Department's Annual Report & Accounts which will be published in due course.
Lord Price: I refer my Rt Hon. and learned Friend the Marquess of Lothian QC to the answer I gave to the noble Member Lord Adonis on 17/07/2017 (HL312).
Lord Price: The Department for International Trade has a strong and capable trade policy team which has grown significantly since June 2016 (from 45 to over 300 today), and is continuing to grow. We continue to hire the brightest and best talent from within the UK civil service and externally, in order to build a world class trade policy team that can deliver the best outcomes for the UK. At this...
Lord Price: As the Prime Minister has said, we want to build a truly Global Britain that is one of the firmest advocates for free trade anywhere in the world. Whilst the UK is a member of the EU, we will continue to press for and support an ambitious EU trade agenda. This includes the various EU trade initiatives with Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia. We are also considering our future trading relationships...
Lord Price: The Government is actively considering a range of options for its future trade policy once we leave the EU. In particular, we are seeking to pursue a strategy that will not only maximise benefits to the UK economy, but also ensure as smooth a transition as possible.