It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.

It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.

It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.

The Government welcomes the reports by the Alternative Arrangements Commission, it is an important contribution. We have considered it alongside input from technical experts and businesses to inform our approach to removing the Protocol on Ireland / Northern Ireland (known as the backstop) and avoiding a hard border in Northern Ireland, in the context of negotiations on the future agreement between the UK and the EU. We remain firmly committed to the Belfast Agreement and we are steadfast in our commitment to do everything in our power to preserve an open border in Northern Ireland.

The Government has now issued a new proposal which means we can leave on 31 October without disruption and in a friendly way. It is a fair and reasonable compromise for all sides that respects the referendum. It contains a special arrangement for Northern Ireland that protects the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement and the peace process, and ensures democratic consent for the arrangement.

There have been ongoing discussions with the European Union at Prime Ministerial, Ministerial and Sherpa level in recent weeks and these will continue.

The Government announced the formation of the Technical Advisory Group on 20 June, and of the Business and Trade Union Advisory Group on 26 June. We will set out further details of the parliamentary group in due course. The Technical Group has met twice, on 20 June and 17 July, and the Business Group has met once, on 26 June. Both groups will continue to meet throughout August and September.

The Technical Group is made up of technical experts in trade and customs and brings together individuals from the public and private sector, and academia, who have expertise on issues spanning law, customs, supply chains, cross-border trade and technology. The members represent a broad spectrum of views and expertise, all of which will be needed to achieve our economic, fiscal and security objectives in the unique circumstances of the Northern Ireland land border. A full list of members can be found on gov.uk.

The Business Group is made up of businesses and trade unions to ensure their experience and on-the-ground knowledge informs developments. This includes cross-sector representatives from Ireland, Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. The members have been chosen based on their comprehensive backgrounds in cross-border supply chains; this includes large companies who can represent the views of themselves and their suppliers, as well as smaller companies who rely on cross-border “just in time” supply chains. A full list of members can be found on gov.uk.

We will set out further details of the Parliamentary group in due course.

The Government has been consistently clear in its intention to leave the EU in an orderly way on the basis of a negotiated agreement, and to do so in a way that ensures no hard border on the island of Ireland on a permanent basis.

The European Commission acts in negotiations in accordance with the position taken by the European Council, whose last expressed position on renegotiation of the Withdrawal Agreement is set out in the April 10 European Council Conclusions.

As part of the deal negotiated, the UK and EU have agreed to consider a joint work stream to develop alternative arrangements to guarantee permanently the absence of a hard border in Northern Ireland. This includes a legally binding commitment that both sides will aim to replace the backstop with alternative arrangements by December 2020 - and that they do not need to replicate the backstop in any respect.

The Prime Minister announced on the 26th February that alternative arrangements to the backstop will be a priority for the UK and EU during the next phase of negotiations.

The Government intends to establish three advisory groups to help inform the UK’s negotiations with the EU. The Government will make available £20m of funding to support the development, testing or piloting of ideas that emerge from these groups where the Government believes it would be helpful.

The UK and EU have agreed to consider a joint work stream to develop alternative arrangements, including the use of technology, to ensure the absence of a hard border, and this work will form an important strand of the next phase of negotiations. Our aim is to ensure that, even if the full future relationship is not in place by the end of the implementation period, the backstop is not needed, because we will have a set of alternative arrangements ready to go. We have secured a legally binding commitment that both sides will aim to replace the backstop with alternative arrangements by December 2020 - and that they do not need to replicate the backstop in any respect.

The Government is doing everything we sensibly can to provide for ongoing scrutiny through the negotiating process. We will continue to report regularly to select committees in person and by responding fully to inquiries and reports.

On 13 March we published details of our plans to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland in a no deal scenario. We have confirmed a temporary, unilateral approach to checks, processes and tariffs to do all we can to achieve this. The UK Government would not introduce any new checks or controls on goods crossing from Ireland to Northern Ireland, including any new customs declarations. The UK temporary tariff regime would therefore not apply to goods crossing from Ireland into Northern Ireland.

As these are unilateral measures, they only mitigate the impacts from exit that are within the UK Government’s control. These measures do not set out the position in respect of tariffs or processes to be applied to goods moving from Northern Ireland to Ireland. We also recognise that there challenges and risks for maintaining control of our borders and for the competitiveness of businesses in Northern Ireland. That is why we are clear that this approach would be strictly temporary.

A negotiated settlement is the only means of sustainably guaranteeing no hard border and protecting businesses in Northern Ireland. In a no deal scenario, we are therefore committed to entering into discussions urgently with the European Commission and the Irish Government to jointly agree long-term measures to avoid a hard border.

Full guidance on the no deal Northern Ireland policy can be found at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/eu-exit-avoiding-a-hard-border-in-northern-ireland-in-a-no-deal-scenario.

The UK and the EU have been clear in the Political Declaration that we will seek to negotiate an ambitious economic partnership, including a free trade area for goods that facilitates trade through a new customs arrangement, deep regulatory cooperation, and avoids any tariffs or quotas.

The Declaration recognises that the application of checks and controls between the EU and the UK would depend on the UK’s commitments, including in relation to the level of alignment with EU rules. Obviously we will need to agree the balance as part of the future negotiations.

The Government has been clear, in all circumstances, we seek to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland and we stand by all our commitments including the safeguarding of the constitutional and economic integrity of the United Kingdom.

From the outset of the negotiations the Prime Minister has been clear that there should be no return to the borders of the past, and that maintaining an open, seamless border has been the cornerstone for the success of the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement. That is why the December Joint Report made clear that the UK would avoid a hard border, including any physical infrastructure or related checks and controls.

Last week, the Government published a Written Ministerial Statement noting that joint UK-EU work on alternative arrangements will be an important strand of the next phase of negotiations. In anticipation of this, and to ensure that the UK is ready to move at pace in the next phase, the Government is putting in place the UK’s arrangements to support this work, with a team drawing in all the relevant departments including DExEU, HMT, HMRC, BEIS, DEFRA, Home Office, and the NIO. This will report directly to the UK’s negotiating team.

The UK and EU have agreed to consider a joint work stream to develop alternative arrangements, including the use of technology, to ensure the absence of a hard border, and this work will form an important strand of the next phase of negotiations. Our aim is to ensure that, even if the full future relationship is not in place by the end of the implementation period, the backstop is not needed, because we will have a set of alternative arrangements ready to go. We have secured a legally binding commitment that both sides will aim to replace the backstop with alternative arrangements by December 2020 - and that they do not need to replicate the backstop in any respect.

Last week, the Government published a Written Ministerial Statement noting that joint UK-EU work on alternative arrangements will be an important strand of the next phase of negotiations. In anticipation of this, and to ensure that the UK is ready to move at pace in the next phase, the Government is putting in place the UK’s arrangements to support this work, with a team drawing in all the relevant departments including DExEU, HMT, HMRC, BEIS, DEFRA, Home Office, and the NIO. This will report directly to the UK’s negotiating team.

The Government has been in discussions with technology companies for many months. While no contracts have yet been signed, in the event of doing so we will follow the usual process.

Parliament has been clear in what is needed to unite behind a Withdrawal Agreement: namely, legally binding changes to the backstop. The Prime Minister has set out three ways in which legally binding changes to the backstop could be achieved. First, the backstop could be replaced with alternative arrangements to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland. Secondly, there could be a legally binding time limit to the existing backstop, or thirdly, there could be a legally binding unilateral exit clause to that backstop.

The Prime Minister and President Juncker agreed that our teams should hold further talks to find a way forward, both will meet again before the end of February to take stock of those discussions.

We are committed to upholding the Belfast Agreement and will do everything in our power to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland. We recognise that we would need to take forward discussions with the Irish Government and the Commission in the event of a no deal on the best way to avoid a hard border.

The Prime Minister in her 5 February speech in Belfast reaffirmed the UK Government commitment to delivering a Brexit that ensures no return to a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, including any physical infrastructure or related checks and controls. While technology could play a part in this, and alternative arrangements are being looked at, these must be ones that can be made to work for the particular circumstances of Northern Ireland.