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  • Lord Chidgey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Chidgey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Chidgey on 2014-06-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to deploy the Stabilisation Unit to assist the G5 countries in providing capacity-building assistance to civil society organisations so that they can monitor public sector financial management in the Central African Republic.

    Baroness Warsi

    The UK will continue to work with and through international organisations, such as the World Bank and the UN, to ensure a coherent strategy for the Central African Republic, including on public financial management and public sector reform. We would be happy to consider the deployment of Stabilisation Unit experts to support the work of these international organisations, as necessary.

  • Lord Chidgey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Chidgey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Chidgey on 2014-06-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to deploy Stabilisation Unit experts to work as counterparts to the Central African Republic’s civil servants, to assist in financial, taxation and budgeting reform in that country.

    Baroness Warsi

    The UK will continue to work with and through international organisations, such as the World Bank and the UN, to ensure a coherent strategy for the Central African Republic, including on public financial management and public sector reform. We would be happy to consider the deployment of Stabilisation Unit experts to support the work of these international organisations, as necessary.

  • Lord Chidgey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Chidgey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Chidgey on 2014-06-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will assist in the implementation of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme for diamonds coming from the Central African Republic.

    Baroness Warsi

    The Government implements its commitments under the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) in full. In order to maintain the integrity of the KPCS, the Central African Republic (CAR) was temporarily suspended from the KPCS in May 2013, preventing the possible introduction of rough diamonds produced in CAR into the legitimate diamond trade. This suspension was upheld in June 2014. It is likely to remain in place until the security situation in CAR improves significantly and the government of CAR is able to re-establish compliance with the KPCS.

  • Lord Chidgey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Chidgey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Chidgey on 2014-06-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will consider assisting the international community in its fight against international trafficking originating from the Central African Republic, by creating a mechanism to fight against diamond, gold, and ivory trafficking and militarised poaching.

    Baroness Warsi

    International mechanisms to tackle illegal trafficking already exist, including the Kimberley Process to regulate the global trade in rough diamonds, and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species to protect endangered species. However, these are reliant of having an effective national government in the Central African Republic (CAR). To this end, our immediate priority is to de-escalate the levels of violence and improve the level of security, so that a legitimate government can be established in CAR with the support of the UN and other international organisations.

  • Lord Chidgey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Chidgey – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Chidgey on 2014-06-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, alongside the current international intervention in the Central African Republic (CAR), they are ready to assist in the growth of economic activity and in building an effective public governance system that serves all CAR citizens, both Muslim and Christian.

    Baroness Warsi

    Together with other partners, our immediate priorities are to help de-escalate the levels of violence and ensure life-saving assistance is delivered to those in acute need. At the same time, we are working with international organisations such as the World Bank and the UN so that a longer-term strategy of economic recovery and effective governance is developed by these organisations to address the needs of all communities in the Central African Republic.

  • Lord Patten – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Patten – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Patten on 2014-06-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Warsi on 18 June (WA 38), on how many occasions since 2010 there have been unlawful incursions by naval or other vessels of other European Union countries into British territorial waters.

    Baroness Warsi

    There have been no unlawful incursions into British (UK) territorial waters by naval or other vessels of European Union countries other than Spain since 2010. Further to my written answer on 18 June (WA 38), there have been no unlawful incursions into British Gibraltar Territorial Waters by naval or other vessels of European Union countries other than Spain since 2010.

  • Lord Condon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Condon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Condon on 2014-06-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the recent award to Kent Police Special Constabulary of the Queens Award for Voluntary Service, whether there are any steps being taken nationally to encourage membership of the Special Constabulary.

    Lord Taylor of Holbeach

    The Special Constabulary is an integral part of policing.

    Individual police forces are responsible for determining their own recruitment requirements in order to meet local policing needs. In line with the Government’s commitment to increase the number of volunteers, the Home Office continues to support the development of the Special Constabulary in England and Wales.

  • Lord Condon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    Lord Condon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Condon on 2014-06-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many times since the permitting of ship to ship oil transfers off the coast of Southwold, Suffolk, in 2011, Maritime and Coastguard Agency surveyors, or other relevant staff, have boarded vessels engaged in ship to ship transfers to carry out a Port State Control Inspection.

    Baroness Kramer

    Maritime and Coastguard Agency surveyors, or other relevant staff, have undertaken a total of 38 Port State Control inspections in support of Ship to Ship transfer operations, during the period 1 January 2011 to 27 June 2014.

  • Lord Bassam of Brighton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Lord Bassam of Brighton – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bassam of Brighton on 2014-06-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Astor of Hever on 18 June (WA 84), what plans they have to recognise the contribution of women in auxiliary, emergency and support services during the Second World War; and whether they have considered the introduction of a badge such as the badge awarded to the Veterans of the Women’s Land Army and Women’s Timber Corps in 2008.

    Lord Astor of Hever

    I am sure the commemorations will seek to honour the work of all of those who contributed to the Second World War effort including women in the auxiliary, emergency, and support services. As the Noble Lord points out, a number of Departments have introduced badges, such as that for female pilots of the Auxiliary Transport Service provided by the Department of Transport. The Ministry of Defence Veterans badge recognises all women who served in the Armed Forces during the Second World War.

  • Lord Judd – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Lord Judd – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Judd on 2014-06-26.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to ensure that any extension of the mutual defence agreement with the United States is designed to assist the fulfilment of the purposes of the non-proliferation treaty and to fulfil the undertaking in that context given by the existing nuclear powers.

    Baroness Warsi

    We are committed to the goal of a world without nuclear weapons and firmly believe that the best way to achieve this is through gradual disarmament negotiated through a step-by-step approach within the framework of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The UK has a strong record on nuclear disarmament and continues to be at the forefront of international efforts to control proliferation, and to make progress towards multilateral nuclear disarmament. The UK-USA Mutual Defence Agreement is, and will continue to be, in full compliance with our obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.