Tag: Hilary Benn

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-04-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has received any reports of (a) violence against opposition officials, candidates and activists and (b) intimidation of journalists during the Parliamentary elections taking place in Serbia.

Mr Philip Hammond

Elections took place in Serbia on 24 April. The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) deployed a 22 person election monitoring mission and we and other countries fielded additional observers. We await final reports and ODIHR’s full and thorough assessment of the fairness and conduct of yesterday’s elections.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-04-28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, on how many occasions his Department has requested access to post-activity operational reports of air strikes by Saudi Arabia in Yemen.

Mr Philip Hammond

The Government reviews a range of information on Saudi operations which helps inform our analysis of Saudi Arabian activity in Yemen. The UK is not a member of the Saudi Arabian-led Coalition and British military personnel are not directly involved in the Saudi led Coalition’s operations. We have deployed a small number of military personnel serving as liaison officers to Saudi headquarters to provide insight into Saudi operations. They remain under UK command and control.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-05-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many staff of his Department at what grades have received training on the international human rights context for freedom of religion or belief in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Mr Philip Hammond

Since 2010, the FCO has run an Advanced Human Rights course which has included a module on freedom of religion or belief (FORB). Approximately 160 staff from across all grades have attended this course over this period. For the vast majority of that period we have also covered FORB on our Introduction to Human Rights Course. We estimate that around 600 staff have attended this course. Training on FORB remains a core element of human rights training under the FCO’s Diplomatic Academy. In addition, we have run a course on religion and foreign policy since 2013. 188 people have completed this course since Autumn 2015.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-09-06.

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

Sir Alan Duncan

A) Consultants

The data that the FCO holds on consultancy projects is tracked by project rather than by individual. Consultants are not always appointed as individuals, rather the project in question is delivered via a company, which allocates the work to experts according to requirements. It is not therefore possible to provide, at proportionate cost, data on the number of consultants recruited to work at the FCO in the last three years. We can however confirm that the FCO has spent the following on consultancy projects in the last three years:

Financial Year 2015/16 – £1.1m
Financial Year 2014/15 – £1.6m
Financial Year 2013/14 – £1.5m

The FCO’s consultancy expenditure is primarily for specialist advice that supports our diplomacy and where ‘in-house’ expertise is not available, such as de-mining surveys.

B) Secondments

With regards to staff on loan from other Government Departments and those seconded from the private sector, the numbers are as follows, based on the year the loan started:

In 2016 (to date) 147 Civil Servants, 1 public servant, and 1 secondee from the private sector have joined the FCO on loan.

In 2015, 161 Civil Servants, and 3 public servants joined the FCO on loan. There were no secondments from the private sector.

In 2014, 149 Civil Servants, 1 public servant and 1 secondee from the private sector joined the FCO on loan.

Due to the small numbers of loans from individual organisations, it is not possible to give a breakdown of all the organisations from which they were loaned, without risking identification of individuals in breach of data protection rules. However the largest numbers of officers loaned to the FCO in all three years came from:

2016 2015 2014
DFID 21 25 11
Home Office 20 20 20
Cabinet Office 10 9 20
HM Treasury 11 11 10
MOD 13 14 12
BIS 14 12 14
DECC 12 4 10
MOJ 6 14 9

Fewer than five individuals a year were loaned from any other department. The public servants loaned to the FCO were all Parliamentary staff or Police Officers.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if the Government will (a) carry out its own assessment and (b) support an independent international inquiry into whether the airstrike on a community hall in Sana’a, where a funeral was taking place, on 8 October 2016, breached international humanitarian law.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The Coalition has announced it will immediately investigate this case along with Joint Incidents Assessment Team (JIAT). The UK Government does not reach a conclusion as to whether or not an International Humanitarian Law violation has taken place in relation to each and every incident of potential concern that comes to its attention. This would simply not be possible in conflicts to which the UK is not a party, as is the case in Yemen. However, as I said in my statement of 9 October, we will press the coalition to release their report into this incident as a matter of urgency.

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

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will estimate the potential change in (a) the number of jobs in the UK and (b) tax revenue collected by HM Treasury in the event of euro-denominated clearing being no longer permitted once the UK leaves the EU.

Mr David Gauke

The ability to clear financial instruments denominated in different currencies in the same clearing house (CCP) brings considerable efficiency savings to customers. UK CCPs are supervised to the highest global standards by the Bank of England and the Government will keep on doing what it takes to see the UK’s financial industry remains a world leader.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2015-11-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to his oral Answer of 22 October 2015, Official Report, column 444WH, what steps he has taken to assess whether British-manufactured arms have been used in a responsible manner in Yemen.

Mr Philip Hammond

The 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 carefully assessed on a case by case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria. A licence will not be issued, for any country, if to do so would be inconsistent with any provision of the Criteria, including where we assess there is a clear risk that it might be used in the commission of a serious violation of international humanitarian law. We are aware of reports of alleged violations of International Humanitarian Law in Yemen by all sides to the conflict and keep these under regular review. We have raised our concerns with the Saudi Government and have received repeated assurances of IHL compliance. We continue to engage with them on those assurances and urge all sides to investigate such incidents fully.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 6 November 2015 to Question 14454, what (a) funding and (b) other support the Government has offered UNHCR to identify people for resettlement to date.

Richard Harrington

We recognise that the scaling up of the Vulnerable Persons Relocation scheme is placing additional demands on UNHCR and have offered them additional support in the form of funding, equipment and seconded personnel, to help with upscaling their resettlement operations. We are currently finalising a support package and will publish details of this once agreed.

This assistance is in addition to £122 million we have already allocated to UNHCR’s work in Syria and the region since the start of the crisis.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-01-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 January 2016 to Question 15523, what assessment he has made of the credibility of assurances by Saudi Arabia that it is in compliance with international humanitarian law in the conflict with Yemen.

Mr Philip Hammond

The UK’s support for military action is contingent on adherence to International Humanitarian Law (IHL). The Ministry of Defence monitors alleged IHL violations, using available information, which in turn informs our overall assessment of IHL compliance in Yemen. We consider a range of information from government sources, foreign governments, the media and international non-governmental organisations. We keep compliance under constant review. We are also offering advice and training to Saudi Arabia to demonstrate best practice and to help ensure continued compliance with IHL. I raised the issue of compliance with IHL during my October visit to Saudi Arabia. We have also raised our concerns with the Houthis on the importance of compliance with IHL.

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 further representations his Department plans to make to the Iranian government on securing the release of Kamal Foroughi from imprisonment.

Mr Philip Hammond

I have raised the case of Mr Foroughi with President Rouhani and Foreign Minister Zarif. The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) spoke to President Rouhani in July 2015 about this case, followed up with a letter on 19 October requesting an update on Mr Foroughi’s welfare and requesting that consular access be granted. The Prime Minister spoke again to President Rouhani on the 19th of January. Mr Foroughi’s case was raised by the Prime Minister in that conversation. We will continue to raise this case, alongside our other consular cases with the Iranian government regularly, at all appropriate levels, including at Ministerial and through our embassy officials in Tehran.