Tag: Hilary Benn

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-09-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many (a) consultants and (b) seconded staff (i) are working or (ii) have been recruited to work at his Department; and from which (A) companies, (B) departments and (C) other organisations such staff were recruited or seconded.

Mr Robin Walker

Consultants

The Department has drawn upon a number of offers of pro bono support from consultancy firms.

Secondments

There are currently five secondees to the Department from external bodies outside of the civil service. Due to the small numbers of secondments from individual organisations, it is not possible to give a breakdown of all the organisations from which they were seconded, without risking identification of individuals in breach of data protection rules.

Other Departments

The Department will be made up of staff and officials from various departments across Government. The Department has already started drawing together expertise with staff from around 20 Departments and organisations from across Government.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-10-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many jobs in the UK would be at risk if the (a) European Medicines Agency and (b) European Banking Authority relocated out of the UK.

Mr David Jones

No decisions have yet been made about the future of the European Medicines Agency or the European Banking Authority. The position of individual staff in the EU institutions will depend on their particular situation and will be determined at the appropriate time. We are clear on the need to get the best deal possible for the UK and its citizens in the negotiations with the EU.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-10-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his UN counterparts on invoking UN Resolution 337A, Uniting for Peace, in order to convene an emergency Special Session of the General Assembly on Syria.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The UK regularly discusses with UN partners the appropriate forums to discuss this appalling and deteriorating situation in Syria. The UK has requested and co-sponsored a number of Emergency Sessions in the Security Council on different events in Syria, to ensure the Council is fully appraised of the intensity of violence and indiscriminate attacks in Aleppo and across Syria, as well as the consequences of Asad’s ‘starve and surrender’ tactics and use of chemical weapons. We will continue to consider UN General Assembly action, including an Emergency Session.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2015-11-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what contact his Department has had with the US Atrocity Prevention Board.

Mr Philip Hammond

FCO officials regularly meet members of the board in the course of normal business, for example at Responsibility to Protect (R2P) meetings during this year’s United Nations General Assembly. The UK is also an active participant in the US-led informal grouping on atrocity prevention which meets every few months to discuss developments and policy priorities.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2015-11-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what his Department’s counter-extremism budget was for (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13, (d) 2013-14 and (e) 2014-15; and how much has been budgeted for (i) 2015-16 and (ii) future financial years.

Mr Philip Hammond

Counter-extremism is an integral part of the FCO’s counter-terrorism work. It is also a core element of activities funded through the cross-Whitehall Conflict Security and Stabilisation Fund. Disaggregating FCO-specific spend on counter-extremism activities from wider counter-terrorism work would incur disproportionate cost.

Future counter-terrorism and counter-extremism spending is subject to the outcome of the Spending Review and SDSR.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-01-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he plans to publish the next quarterly progress report to the House on Syria.

Mr Philip Hammond

I updated the House on 16 December 2015. The next progress report on Syria will be made by my Right Hon Friend, member for Putney, Roehampton and Southfields, the Development Secretary, Ms Justine Greening following the 4 February Syria Conference in London.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-01-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what guidance (a) has been issued and (b) his Department plans to issue in 2016 to UK diplomats in states with the death penalty on representing the Government’s position on the use of that penalty.

Mr Philip Hammond

The Government opposes the use of the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle but I have no plans to issue prescriptive guidance to posts on how they represent the Government’s position on the death penalty. UK Heads of Mission are best placed to judge what the most effective course of action will be, according to local circumstances.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-01-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of whether the 119 Saudi-led coalition sorties documented in the Final Report of the UN Panel of Experts in Yemen represent potential violations of international humanitarian law.

Mr Philip Hammond

We take all allegations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) violations very seriously. The MOD monitors incidents of alleged IHL violations using available information which in turn informs our overall assessment of IHL compliance in Yemen. This includes looking at the allegations raised in the UN Panel of Experts’ report. Looking at the information available to us, we have assessed that there has not been a breach of IHL by the coalition, but continue to monitor the situation closely, seeking further information where appropriate.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make it his policy to support action at the International Criminal Court in respect of UK nationals suspected of having committed war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide against members of the Yazidi community in Iraq.

Mr Philip Hammond

We support the International Criminal Court (ICC) in its efforts to end impunity for the most serious crimes of international concern by holding perpetrators to account. As Iraq is not a Party to the Rome Statute, the Court has no territorial jurisdiction over crimes committed on Iraqi soil.

Foreign fighters who are nationals of ICC States could potentially be held accountable by the ICC. In April 2015 the ICC Prosecutor did however, decide that as Daesh was led primarily by nationals of Iraq and Syria, and the ICC’s mandate was to investigate those most responsible, the jurisdictional basis to open a preliminary examination was too narrow.

As part of our strategy to defeat Daesh we are working to counter the flow of foreign fighters. It is now a criminal offence to be a member of Daesh in the UK. We are also working to combat radicalisation and are monitoring those who pose a significant security risk. We have introduced powers to seize passports to stop them travelling, to remove British nationality from dual nationals of concern, and to prevent temporarily some British nationals from re-entering the UK

We are also working to support the victims of Daesh’s brutality in Iraq. This includes funding projects to document crimes and support the victims of sexual violence.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many UK nationals work for the European External Action Service; and what proportion of the total number of employees in that service they represent.

Mr Philip Hammond

The European External Action Service (EEAS) has not published statistics on numbers of permanent staff by nationality since 2013, when a total of 133 British citizens were working for the EEAS. As of April 2015, our records show there were a total of 119 British citizens working for the European External Action Service, representing 4.8% of approximately 2500 total staff (excluding approximately 1000 local agents in Delegations) employed by the EEAS in 2015.