Brexit: Sectoral Impact Assessments Private Notice Question 11.37
am Asked by Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town To ask Her
Majesty’s Government whether they will disclose the Government’s
Brexit sectoral impact assessments to the House of Lords European
Union Select Committee. Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Lab)
My Lords, I beg leave to...Request free
trial
Brexit: Sectoral Impact Assessments
Private Notice Question
11.37 am
Asked by
-
of Kentish Town
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will disclose
the Government’s Brexit sectoral impact assessments to the
House of Lords European Union Select Committee.
-
of Kentish Town
(Lab)
My Lords, I beg leave to ask a Question of which I have
given private notice.
-
The Minister of State, Department for Exiting the European
Union (Lord Callanan) (Con)
My Lords, the Government have to reflect on the
implications of yesterday’s Motion and how best we can meet
the requirements set out from the House, bearing in mind
that the documents requested do not exist in the form
suggested in the Motion.
-
of Kentish Town
I welcome the noble Lord the Minister—the third Brexit
Minister I have faced—to his first outing in this role. I
apologise that I had to bring him to the Dispatch Box early
today, but from what I understand he is well up to the
challenge of these small inconveniences. However, I am
sorry that his Answer does not answer the Question I
raised. We know that the Ministers in the other place are
already discussing with my right honourable friend the
chair of the Commons Brexit committee the handing over of
the documents. I ask the Minister to undertake to have
similar discussions with the chair of our EU committee
about its access to these documents. They are essential for
the work it is doing on our behalf.
-
I thank the noble Baroness for her welcome. I have watched
her as an extremely able and effective performer in this
House and look forward to working closely with her, as far
as we are able, in the difficult task ahead. The Motion in
question was about sharing documentation with the Select
Committee on Exiting the EU. As the Secretary of State for
Exiting the EU has said in the other place this morning, he
has already spoken to the chair of that committee. Further
conversations will take place about we how handle the
confidentiality of the documents that we hand over. Of
course, I will be very happy to have similar discussions
with the committees of this House.
-
(LD)
My Lords, the basis of the Government’s case for not
publishing the documents is that they would prejudice the
Brexit negotiations. If the documents are factual
assessments of the consequences of leaving the EU, how can
that conceivably undermine the negotiations? Surely it just
helps the whole country to understand the consequences of
the course that the Government are now set on.
-
My Lords, we have been very clear that we will be as open
as possible and share as much information with both Houses
as possible. The Secretary of State and other Ministers
have made a substantial number of appearances in front of
various committees of both Houses. We want to be as open as
possible, but we must be careful not to prejudice our
negotiating position. The noble Lord will be aware that the
EU, on the other side of the negotiations, has not released
similar assessments.
-
(Lab)
My Lords, I think that the whole House will have been
intrigued by the Minister’s—to whom I also offer a
welcome—observation, if I have understood him rightly, that
the documents do not exist in the form in which they have
been requested. Is he saying that there are no such
documents? In which case, what is being discussed? If there
are such documents, in what form do they exist?
-
My Lords, they are not “impact assessments”, as was referred
to in the Motion; they are a series of sectoral analyses of
different sectors of the economy.
-
Noble Lords
Oh!
-
There is a big difference, my Lords, between the two things.
-
(Con)
My Lords, I welcome my noble friend to his new
responsibilities, which he is particularly well equipped to
perform. I look forward to hearing a lot more from him in the
weeks and months to come. Is not this all a lot of nonsense?
We all know from the Treasury’s forecasts of the short-term
impact of the Brexit decision that it does not have a clue—to
put it politely. The longer-term impacts will depend
overwhelmingly on what policies we put in place post Brexit
when we are free to do so. That is true not only of the
agricultural sector, for example, but of the whole of the
rest of the economy. Since these policies have not yet been
decided, is it not the case that this is a complete farce and
that the Opposition are simply seeking to embarrass the
Government—which is what Oppositions do—in the face of an
international negotiation?
-
I thank the noble Lord for his questions and observations. I
am not sure that I would use the word farce to describe
appropriate parliamentary procedures—of course, the
Opposition are quite entitled to ask any questions and
request any documents they wish. As I said, we will
concentrate on getting the best deal for the UK in these
negotiations. We will be as open and as transparent as
possible as far as that objective is concerned. I also thank
the noble Lord for his welcome.
-
(Lab)
Will the Minister explain precisely what the difference is
between a sector analysis and an impact assessment? Does a
sector analysis not include any assessment of impact, or is
it really just playing with words to try to avoid the
obligation that, if the Government are keen on transparency,
they should put these documents in the public domain? If they
are simply analyses of sectors, why would they prejudice our
negotiating position?
-
I understand that several noble Lords will be looking forward
to the publication of sections of these documents in some
sort of macabre sense, thinking that they will somehow
provide succour to their view, but they may be disappointed
when they see them. As I said, they are a whole series of
long and complicated documents—I have read a number of them.
It is exactly as I have said: they are sectoral analyses of
different sectors of the economy and the effect it might have
on our negotiations with our EU partners.
-
(Con)
My Lords, it is of course encouraging that the Government
have undertaken these assessments and I am sure we all look
forward to seeing them. But can the Minister tell me whether
the Government have undertaken similar assessments of the
impact of Brexit on different countries, regions, industries
and economic sectors in the EU 27? That, too, is highly
relevant to the outcome of these negotiations.
-
My Lords, there is a huge amount of work going on across
government on all these matters to inform our negotiating
position. As I said earlier, it is interesting that the EU
negotiators have decided not to publish similar documents on
their side. I assume that they have done similar work to
inform their negotiating position.
-
(CB)
The Minister is no doubt aware that over the past weeks
Members of both Houses have felt frustrated that they have
been unable to discover what advice the Government have
received as to whether or not they would be entitled to
withdraw the notice under Article 50. I will ask a question
which I think is within the bounds of correctitude: do the
Government consider that they have an option to withdraw
lawfully should they wish to take that course?
-
I am not going to comment on any legal advice we may have
received. We had a referendum on this subject. People voted
to leave the European Union. We are going to leave and we are
not going to withdraw the notification issued under Article
50, which was approved by both Houses.
-
(Lab)
My Lords, are cross-border transport arrangements the subject
of sectoral analysis? If they are, does that mean there has
been an examination of problems that might arise in Dover,
with huge backlogs of trucks trying to enter the United
Kingdom and, indeed, going abroad?
-
My previous role—sadly brief—was at the Department for
Transport. Of course all these contingencies are being looked
at. We will need to consider the full implications of the
decision to leave and the negotiations that we are pursuing.
Of course that will be one of the pertinent factors.
-
(LD)
My Lords, the Minister knows the north-east of England
extremely well. Have these assessments included an impact
assessment for the economy of the north-east of England as a
consequence of Brexit? If there is not one, why not? If there
is, will he publish it?
-
I thank the noble Lord for his question. I have been in the
department since Monday. There are hundreds and hundreds of
pages of these assessments. I have read some of them. I do
not know whether there is a specific reference to the
north-east, or indeed any other regions, in the documents. If
there is, I have not seen one yet.
-
(CB)
My Lords, has appeared before the
European Union Select Committee three times since the Brexit
vote, and on more than one occasion he has promised parity of
information for us and the committee in the House of Commons.
We have now published 20 sectoral reports, and there are more
in the pipeline. Therefore, we are in a very high state of
knowledge about sectoral issues. Will the Minister go further
than saying that he will have a discussion with our chairman
about things and actually undertake that we will receive the
same information as the equivalent committee in the House of
Commons?
-
As I said, we still need to have further discussions with the
chairman of the Brexit Select Committee in another place. Of
course, following those discussions we will reflect further
on what information we will want to provide to comply with
the Motion, and I have undertaken to have a similar
discussion with the chairman of the committee in this place.
I do not want to go any further than that at the moment.
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