Author: admin

  • Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent steps the Government has taken to help the 223 girls kidnapped in North East Nigeria.

    Mark Simmonds

    We remain committed to helping Nigeria to find the schoolgirls abducted from Chibok. On 12 June my Right Honourable Friend, the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), the previous Foreign Secretary, hosted the London Ministerial on Security in Northern Nigeria. At this meeting with Nigeria, her neighbours and other international partners, we agreed a number of further measures designed to help the girls abducted on 14 April by Boko Haram, and the hundreds of others like them. We continue to offer intelligence support to the Nigerian authorities and are also agreeing with them the increased training and tactical support we committed to in London.

    We will review progress further at a Ministerial follow up meeting in Abuja in September.

  • Kerry McCarthy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Kerry McCarthy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kerry McCarthy on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the timetable is for the Montserrat Conservation and Environmental Management Bill.

    Mark Simmonds

    The elected Government of Montserrat has devolved constitutional responsibility for conservation and environmental management. The UK Government is supporting the strengthening of the legal and institutional framework for environment management through our support for the Montserrat Strategic Growth Plan. We understand that the Montserrat Conservation and Environmental Management Bill is due to have its third and final reading in the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday, 22 July.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how the £1 million pledged by the UK to the UN’s Safe Schools Initiative is being used to ensure that children are being protected.

    Lynne Featherstone

    DFID is providing technical support to the design and development of the Safe Schools Initiative, as well as working through our existing education programmes in northern Nigeria to ensure safe access to learning. The Safe Schools Initiative was launched in May. The Government of Nigeria are leading on implementation. The aim is to provide a response for the protection of schools and the prevention of future attacks on schools. It will include a combination of school-based and community interventions to create safer environments in which schools can operate, improve school security measures and support provision of safe opportunities for learning.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what progress has been made on the delivery of the package of assistance pledged by the Prime Minister to the Nigerian government following the recent kidnapping of schoolgirls in that country.

    Mark Simmonds

    We continue to provide support to the Nigerian authorities in the search for the Chibok schoolgirls. In addition to the support announced by the Prime Minister, on 12 June we announced a further package of assistance. This package includes training and advice to the Nigerian armed forces; support to the Nigerian government in bringing increased development and prosperity to the North East; a commitment to draw 1 million more children into education in Northern Nigeria by 2020 and £1 million for the UN’s Safe Schools Initiative. We are agreeing the implementation of these measures with the Nigerian authorities and look forward to reviewing progress at a Ministerial meeting in Abuja in September.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information his Department holds on the number of (a) Palestinians and (b) Palestinian children who have been killed as a result of Israeli military action in the last 10 years.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office holds no information centrally on the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli military action in the last 10 years.

  • Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Jim Cunningham – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information his Department holds on the number of (a) Israelis and (b) Israeli children who have been killed as a result of Israeli military action in the last 10 years.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office holds no information centrally on the number of Israelis or Israeli children killed by Israeli military action in the last 10 years.

  • Nigel Dodds – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Nigel Dodds – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to prevent the use and development of nuclear weapons by North Korea; and what assessment he has made of the recent missile tests in the Gongwan Province.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    We remain extremely concerned by the continued development of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) nuclear and ballistic missile programme, and by its refusal to abide by UN Security Council resolutions. We continue to work closely with partners to press for implementation of the UN’s sanctions regime, to control the DPRK’s access to proliferation sensitive material and to prevent them from exporting arms and technology.

    In the last few weeks the DPRK has undertaken a series of launches of short-range ballistic missiles, mainly of the SCUD class. No prior notice was given in advance of any of these launches. While it is likely that the DPRK is conducting these launches for training and development purposes, it is without doubt also using them to demonstrate its capability, and timing them to maximise political effect. We strongly condemn these, and we urge the DPRK to comply with all of its obligations under relevant UNSCRs and to refrain from any further provocations that cannot help but destabilise the peninsula and the wider region.

  • Keith Vaz – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Keith Vaz – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keith Vaz on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the average salary gap is between women and men in his Department.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    Salary in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is determined by a range of factors including grade, performance, and length of time in employment. The latest data on average salaries of FCO staff by gender and grade are set out below and can be found in the FCO Diversity and Equality report, which was published in April 2014 and based on data for 2013. Full details can be found on page 12 of the report.

    Grade

    Average Female Pay

    Average Male Pay

    % Male Pay Exceeds Female Pay
    SMS 3&4 £118,470 £131,360 10.88%
    SMS 2 £88,471 £89,669 1.35%
    SMS 1 £67,030 £68,286 1.87%
    D7 £57,147 £58,195 1.83%
    D6 £47,204 £47,576 0.79%
    C5 £35,581 £36,233 1.83%
    C4 £28,753 £28,710 -0.15%
    B3 £24,690 £24,612 -0.32%
    A2 £20,700 £20,492 -1.00%
    A1 £18,156 £18,156 0.00%

    The pay gap between men and women at Senior Management Structure 3&4 is due to the relatively small number of women currently in those grades.

  • Nigel Dodds – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Nigel Dodds – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Nigel Dodds on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of recent changes in Japan’s constitution and its defence doctrine.

    Mr Hugo Swire

    The UK welcomes a more active role for Japan on international peace and security. These reforms, based on a reinterpretation of Japan’s constitution, will allow it to make a greater contribution to international peace and security, including through exercising its right under the UN Charter to collective self-defence. We have worked well with Japan in difficult security environments overseas and we welcome the prospect of greater practical cooperation in these areas.

  • Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Ian Lucas – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Lucas on 2014-07-16.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the implementation of each of the recommendations in the report, Children in Military Custody, published in June 2012.

    Mr Tobias Ellwood

    The UK has made repeated representations to Israel on their treatment of Palestinian prisoners, including child detainees. Since the Foreign and Commonwealth Office-funded independent report on Children in Military Custody, there has been some limited progress. This includes a pilot to use summons instead of night-time arrests, and steps to reduce the amount of time a child can be detained before seeing a judge. My predecessor wrote to the Israeli Attorney General on 31 March to welcome the steps taken to date and to call for further measures, including the mandatory use of audio-visual recording of interrogations, investigation into continued reports of single hand ties being used, and an end to solitary confinement for children. The British Government has been working with the delegation who compiled the Children in Military Custody report to make a return visit to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories in the near future.