The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-06-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 6 June 2016 to Question 38596, on beach huts: Christchurch, if she will publish a full record of the discussions between Natural England and Christchurch Borough Council.
Rory Stewart
Natural England is happy to provide the hon. Member with a record of its discussions with Christchurch Borough Council.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2016-06-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will estimate the amount of funding that will be made available to each part of the UK for rural development purposes through EU schemes in the post-2020 Multi Annual Financial Framework.
George Eustice
No decisions on post-2020 funding have been taken yet. The post-2020 Multi Annual Framework negotiations will be led by HMT.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Karl McCartney on 2016-06-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will estimate the amount of funding that will be made available to each part of the UK for farming and agriculture through the CAP in the post-2020 Multi Annual Framework.
George Eustice
No decisions on post-2020 funding have been taken yet. The post-2020 Multi Annual Framework negotiations will be led by HMT.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Christopher Chope on 2016-06-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 6 June 2016 to Question 38596, on beach huts: Christchurch, and with reference to the Guardian report of 15 April 2016, entitled Dorset residents angry over TV showing beach hut competition, whether Natural England is comfortable with the idea of the development of residential beach chalets on Highcliffe clifftop.
Rory Stewart
Natural England has not yet assessed the SSSI consent application received on 7 June. Until Natural England has done this it cannot comment further.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-06-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the threats to the Tristan albatross and Gough bunting from invasive plants and mice; and if his Department will support the proposed initiative by the Tristan da Cunha council to protect those birds through mouse and invasive plant eradication projects.
Mr Edward Vaizey
The Government is aware of the threat to the seabirds of Gough Island posed by invasive mice and plants. We are reviewing the options for addressing this problem and will take necessary actions to ensure the protection of these rare and endangered species and to protect the World Heritage Site status of Gough Island.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Twigg on 2016-06-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will suspend arms export licences and reject new applications for arms exports to Saudi Arabia while there is a risk that they could be used in contravention of international humanitarian and human rights law.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
The UK Government takes its arms export responsibilities very seriously and operates one of the most robust arms export control regimes in the world. All export licence applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria, taking account of all relevant factors at the time of the application.
Risks around human rights violations are a key part of our assessment against the Consolidated Criteria. A licence will not be issued for any country, including Saudi Arabia, if to do so would be inconsistent with any provision of the mandatory Criteria, including where we assess there is a clear risk that the items might be used for internal repression or in the commission of a serious violation of International Humanitarian Law.
Our export licensing system allows us to respond quickly to changed circumstances, with the option to suspend or revoke any export licence, where we consider that this is a necessary step. The Government is confident in its robust case-by-case assessment and is satisfied that extant licences for Saudi Arabia are compliant with the UK’s export licensing criteria.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Twigg on 2016-06-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will support the immediate establishment of an international, impartial investigation into repeated international humanitarian law violations by all parties to the conflict in Yemen.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
The UK Government has been clear that we want to see thorough and conclusive investigations where allegations have been made against parties to the conflict in Yemen regarding international humanitarian law. The Saudi Arabian government has its own internal procedures for investigations and they announced more detail on how they investigate such incidents earlier this year and that any lessons learned would be acted upon. We continue to call on all parties to the conflict in Yemen to comply with international humanitarian law, including to take all feasible precautions to minimise harm to civilians and civilian objects.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Twigg on 2016-06-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that Saudi Arabia and other Coalition states in Yemen cooperate with the UN to develop and implement an action plan to end and prevent violations against children.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
We note the announcement by the UN Secretary General on 6 June that removed the listing of the Saudi Arabian-led Coalition from the report’s annex, pending the conclusion of a joint review by the UN and Saudi Arabia on the cases and numbers cited in the text. We welcome co-operation between the UN and Saudi Arabia to look in to this matter.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Twigg on 2016-06-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department’s policy of the recent UN Secretary-General’s report on Children and Armed Conflict and its Annex which lists the Saudi-led Coalition as committing grave violations against children in Yemen.
Mr Tobias Ellwood
We are aware of the UN Secretary General’s annual report on Children in Armed Conflict which was published on 2 June, which includes a section outlining the impact of the conflict in Yemen on children. The conflict in Yemen has had a significant impact on children, in terms of the numbers of child casualties, the recruitment of children as soldiers, and attacks on hospitals and schools. We consider all these reports very carefully. We note the announcement by the UN Secretary General on 6 June that removed the listing of the Saudi Arabian-led Coalition from the report’s annex, pending the conclusion of a joint review by the UN and Saudi Arabia on the cases and numbers cited in the text. We welcome co-operation between the UN and Saudi Arabia to look in to this matter. A political solution remains the best way to bring this conflict and the suffering of the Yemeni people to an end. The UK Government remains fully committed to this endeavour.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Law on 2016-06-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many times he has visited Scotland in an official capacity since the 2015 General Election; and what meetings were held on each such visit.
Mr David Lidington
The Foreign Secretary, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) visited Edinburgh on 20 January 2016. Meetings were held with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, Ruth Davidson MSP, and as part of the UK-Poland Quadriga, Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski and Polish Defence Minister Antoni Macierewicz. There was a wreath-laying at the Scottish National War Memorial and a commemoration at the Wojtek the Bear memorial.
I visited Scotland on 11 November 2015, where I met Fiona Hyslop MSP and Humza Yousaf MSP to discuss EU reform and held roundtable meetings with Scottish Financial Enterprise and NFU Scotland.