Tag: Lord Campbell of Pittenweem

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Campbell of Pittenweem on 2016-04-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 8 February (HL5631), what measures they are taking to address the shortfall of personnel in (1) the regular, and (2) the reserve, battalions of the Royal Regiment of Scotland.

Earl Howe

The Army continues to offer exciting opportunities to young people. Over 7,800 new recruits joined the regular Army in financial year 2014-15 with intake increasing during financial year 2015-16, up to 29 February 2016 7,260 have joined the army of which, 175 Regulars and 140 Reserves have joined the Battalions of the Royal Regiment of Scotland.

There are two national recruitment campaigns currently running. The Army’s ‘A Better You’ for soldiers continues throughout 2016. After a principal focus on Regulars between June and March there will be a special emphasis on reserve-specific recruiting in April to June, September to October and January to February 2017. ‘A Better You’ will continue through the year with the reserve message forming an important aspect of the overarching campaign.

The Army’s current officer recruiting campaign, ‘With Heart. With Mind’, is aimed at attracting potential officer candidates into regular and reserve service. ‘With Heart. With Mind’ will have a specific emphasis on reserve officers during the period of March to July 2016, and again in November.

The national campaigns continue to be supported by regional level efforts. During financial year 2015-16 there were over 2,000 community engagement events in Scotland and nearly 300 targeted recruitment events.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Campbell of Pittenweem on 2016-01-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) UK embassies, and (2) UK consular offices, have been closed since 6 May 2010, and where those closures took place.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), has not closed any Embassies over this period. Operations were suspended in Tehran, Damascus, Tripoli and Sana’a for security reasons. Tehran re-opened in August 2015.

The FCO currently has 268 posts (Embassies, Consulates-General, Consulates, Multilateral Missions and Trade and Investment Offices – Consular Offices are not classed as posts) worldwide. Since 2010 we have opened nine posts: in Juba (South Sudan), Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), San Salvador (El Salvador), Seattle (USA), Vientiane (Laos), Mogadishu (Somalia), Port au Prince (Haiti), Asuncion (Paraguay) and Wuhan (China). We have also upgraded eight posts: in Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire), Antananarivo (Madagascar), Calgary (Canada), Monrovia (Liberia), Recife (Brazil), Hyderabad, Chandigarh and Ahmedabad (India).

Since 2010, we have closed the following Consulates and Consular Offices in Europe and elsewhere:

2010: One: Consulate-General Geneva, Switzerland

2011: Three: Consulate-General Lille, France; Consulate-General Venice, Italy; Consulate Florence, Italy

2012: Three: Consulate-General Basra, Iraq; Consulate Funchal, Portugal; Consular Office Oporto, Portugal

2013: Four: Consulate Pattaya, Thailand; Consular Office, Thessaloniki, Greece; Consular Office, Andorra; Consular Office Willemstad, Curaçao

2014: Two: Consular Offices in Cali and Cartagena, Colombia. The FCO also withdrew its Provincial Reconstruction Team from Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan

2015: Two: Consulate Chiang Mai, Thailand; Consular Office Bodrum, Turkey.

The FCO downgraded the following Consulates-General and Consulates to Trade and Investment Offices since 2010:

2012: Two: Consulate-General Lyon, France; Consulate Naples, Italy

2014: One: Consulate Bilbao, Spain.

Since 2010, we have developed new technology and new ways of working that has enabled us to deliver services differently in some areas. We now have three Consular Contact Centres that take calls from all consular customers, and are able to support around 80 per cent of those calling without further escalation to post, helping to ensure that Consular staff in-country are able to focus their time on those most in need of help. Some services have also been centralised, with customers able to access them by post, and increasingly through digital channels.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Campbell of Pittenweem on 2016-04-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have (1) commissioned, or (2) undertaken, an impact assessment on the local economy of the departure of RAF personnel from Leuchars.

Earl Howe

There has not been an impact assessment commissioned or undertaken by the Ministry of Defence.