Tag: Stephen Doughty

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-10-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what (a) training and (b) specific operational advice has been provided to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on (i) political authorisation of military operations, (ii) targeting of aerial operations and (iii) after-action reviews on operations in Yemen in the last 12 months.

Sir Michael Fallon

As part of our ongoing Defence engagement with Saudi Arabia the UK has provided training to the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) both in the UK and in Saudi Arabia, including International Targeting courses for RSAF personnel, to improve their targeting processes and to support International Humanitarian Law (IHL) compliance.

The UK has supported the development of the coalition Joint Incident Assessment Team (JIAT) and delivered two training sessions in Saudi Arabia on the process for investigating alleged IHL violations. The UK has not been directly involved in investigations undertaken by the JIAT, has not provided any specific operational advice to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for operations in Yemen and has not provided training on political authorisation of military operations.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-01-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the security and political situation in Helmand province, Afghanistan; and what support the Government (a) has provided and (b) plans to provide to stabilise the situation.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The Afghan Security Forces have been tested by a determined insurgency in Helmand Province this year, resulting in a temporary loss of ground in some areas. The Afghan Security Forces have been reinforced, and are responding well.

A small contingent of UK military training advisers, drawn from our existing contribution to the NATO Resolute Support Mission, have deployed to Helmand in a non-combat role as part of a larger NATO team. The UK, with our international partners, will remain steadfast in our support for the Afghan Government and people, including in their efforts to bring enduring peace and security to Afghanistan.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-01-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of progress in electoral registration in Somaliland; and what support the UK is providing for that process.

James Duddridge

The UK, together with Denmark and the EU are providing funding in support of the biometric voter registration system and expertise required to plan and prepare the voter registration system in Somaliland. The UK has contributed £2.18million. The process began on 16 January and is progressing as planned. Over 100,000 people have already been registered. The UK is funding independent monitoring of the process to ensure that it continues to be effectively administered, peaceful and accessible to all.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-02-03.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many enquiries regarding self-assessment originating from each constituency were handled by HM Revenue and Customs call centres in each of the last three tax years.

Mr David Gauke

HM Revenue and Customs does not hold data by constituency and regularly publishes general performance reports at Gov.uk.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-02-23.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many staff leaving employment at her Department in the last three years have subsequently been rehired within 12 months by the (a) Foreign and Commonwealth Office, (b) Ministry of Defence, (c) Department for Energy and Climate Change, (d) Department for Culture, Media and Sport, (e) Cabinet Office and (f) HM Treasury.

Mr Nick Hurd

DFID would not record or have access to details of former employees who have been rehired by other government departments.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-03-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when electrification of the Great Western Mainline as far as Cardiff Central is expected to be completed.

Claire Perry

Sir Peter Hendy’s report published on 25 November 2015 stated that the electrification of the Great Western Mainline to Cardiff is planned to be completed by the end of Control Period 5, before March 2019.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-03-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of overseas development assistance was spent by departments other than her Department in each of the last six years; and what estimate her Department has made of that proportion for each year until 2019-20.

Mr Nick Hurd

The information requested for the years 2009-2014 is published in ‘Statistics on International Development 2015’, which is available from our website www.dfid.gov.uk. Table 3 gives the breakdown of the percentage of Official Development Assistance (ODA) provided by DFID and departments other than DFID. My Department will publish provisional UK ODA figures for 2015 on the 1st April.

Between 2016/17 and 2019/20: DFID will spend an estimated 72% of UK ODA; other departments and funds will spend an estimated 22% of UK ODA; and the remaining 6% will be non-departmental spend such as debt relief and gift aid. This information is based on ODA budget allocations by the government in order to meet its commitment to spend 0.7 per cent of Gross National Income (GNI) on ODA in each calendar year. Adjustments will be made to the ODA budget to reflect the latest economic forecasts throughout the spending review period.

“

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-05-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether (a) he and (b) ministers of his Department have had discussions with the new Welsh Government on support arrangements for people infected with contaminated blood.

Jane Ellison

There have been no discussions at ministerial level with the new Welsh Government on this issue. Departmental officials continue to discuss the operation of the current schemes and the on-going analysis of the responses to the recent consultation on the reform of the infected blood payment scheme with their opposite numbers.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-09-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many full-time equivalent staff of her Department, at what grades, have been seconded to the Department for International Trade.

Rory Stewart

Two DFID staff will soon be moving to the Department for International Trade on loan for a period of 2 years taking up Senior Civil Service roles. We expect that several DFID staff will be strong candidates for other roles in the new Department currently being advertised.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Doughty on 2016-10-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what (a) technical and (b) personnel support has been provided to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to investigate possible breaches of (i) targeting procedures, (ii) the rules of engagement and (iii) international humanitarian law on operations in Yemen in the last 12 months.

Sir Michael Fallon

It is important that all parties to the conflict in Yemen conduct thorough and conclusive investigations into all incidents where it is alleged that International Humanitarian Law (IHL) has been breached. We regularly raise the importance of compliance with IHL with the Saudi Arabian Government and other members of the military coalition.

The UK has supported the development of the coalition Joint Incident Assessment Team (JIAT) and delivered two training sessions in Saudi Arabia on the process for investigating alleged IHL violations. We have not been directly involved in investigations undertaken by the JIAT.