Tag: Stephen Twigg

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Twigg on 2016-06-15.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the effect of the de-listing of the Saudi-led coalition in the UN Secretary-General’s report on Children and Armed Conflict, published in April 2016, on civilian protection and the wider humanitarian situation in Yemen.

Sir Desmond Swayne

We are aware of the UN Secretary General’s annual report on Children in Armed Conflict, which includes a section outlining the impact of the conflict in Yemen on children. It is important that all sides to the conflict conduct investigations into incidents of concern. To that end, we welcome the announcement by the UN Secretary General on 6 June that the United Nations and the Saudi-led Coalition will review jointly the cases and numbers cited in the text. In parallel, we continue to urge all parties to the conflict to take all reasonable steps to ensure civilians, particularly women and children, are protected in Yemen, and to allow and facilitate rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Twigg on 2016-07-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans her Department has to replace programme partnership arrangements.

Priti Patel

I am currently considering the outcomes of my Department’s Civil Society Partnership Review, and will aim to publish it shortly.

In July 2015, the then Secretary of State for International Development announced a 9 month extension of all PPA financing, providing 18 months-notice that all current PPA financing would come to an end in December 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Twigg on 2016-07-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will consider extending current programme partnership arrangements until a replacement mechanism is introduced.

Priti Patel

I am currently considering the outcomes of my Department’s Civil Society Partnership Review, and will aim to publish it shortly.

In July 2015, the then Secretary of State for International Development announced a 9 month extension of all PPA financing, providing 18 months-notice that all current PPA financing would come to an end in December 2016.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Twigg on 2015-11-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if the Government will support a UN Inquiry into human violations against the Rohingya.

Mr Hugo Swire

The UK deplores the treatment of the Rohingya community in Rakhine State, who are subject to persecution and denied the most basic rights. We welcome the work of the highly effective UN Special Rapporteur on Burma, who has shone a spotlight on violations against the Rohingya in Rakhine. She has not characterised the treatment of the Rohingya as genocide, and neither did the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide in his 4 November statement on Burma’s elections. However, any judgement on whether genocide has occurred is a matter for international judicial decision, rather than for governments or non-judicial bodies. A UN investigation would require high level international support for which, we assess, there is little prospect of agreement at this stage. Our approach is to seek an end to all violations, irrespective of whether or not they fit the definition of specific international crimes. I and other British Government Ministers take every appropriate opportunity, both publicly and in private, to press the Burmese authorities to take urgent steps to address the situation of the Rohingya. I did this with senior Burmese Ministers during my visit to Burma in July, when I travelled to Rakhine State for the second time. Most recently, I raised the issue with the Burmese Foreign Minister, Wunna Maung Lwin, in September in New York. After the 8 November elections, the UK will continue our efforts to address the serious ongoing human rights violations against the Rohingya in Rakhine State.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Twigg on 2015-11-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department is planning to publish an LGBT Theory of Change.

Grant Shapps

A document describing “DFID’s approach to LGBT rights” will be published on UK Government website by the end of 2015. A theory of change will be available with this.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Twigg on 2016-01-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many doses of pandemic H1N1 vaccine were administered in the UK in the 2010-11 influenza season.

Jane Ellison

An estimated 172,260 doses of pandemic flu vaccine were administered from 1 September 2010 to 28 February 2011.

The Department issued a letter from the Chief Medical Officer on 6 January 2011 about seasonal influenza vaccine uptake and supply. It noted that if efforts to source seasonal flu locally had not been successful, then the H1N1 monovalent vaccine Pandemrix could be offered to those eligible for seasonal flu vaccine.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Twigg on 2016-01-14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the NHS advised GPs to administer the pandemic influenza vaccine during the 2010-11 winter due to shortages of supply of seasonal influenza vaccine.

Jane Ellison

An estimated 172,260 doses of pandemic flu vaccine were administered from 1 September 2010 to 28 February 2011.

The Department issued a letter from the Chief Medical Officer on 6 January 2011 about seasonal influenza vaccine uptake and supply. It noted that if efforts to source seasonal flu locally had not been successful, then the H1N1 monovalent vaccine Pandemrix could be offered to those eligible for seasonal flu vaccine.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Twigg on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will suspend arms export licences and reject new applications for arms exports to Saudi Arabia while there is a risk that they could be used in contravention of international humanitarian and human rights law.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The UK 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 assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria, taking account of all relevant factors at the time of the application.

Risks around human rights violations are a key part of our assessment against the Consolidated Criteria. A licence will not be issued for any country, including Saudi Arabia, if to do so would be inconsistent with any provision of the mandatory Criteria, including where we assess there is a clear risk that the items might be used for internal repression or in the commission of a serious violation of International Humanitarian Law.

Our export licensing system allows us to respond quickly to changed circumstances, with the option to suspend or revoke any export licence, where we consider that this is a necessary step. The Government is confident in its robust case-by-case assessment and is satisfied that extant licences for Saudi Arabia are compliant with the UK’s export licensing criteria.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Twigg on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will support the immediate establishment of an international, impartial investigation into repeated international humanitarian law violations by all parties to the conflict in Yemen.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

The UK Government has been clear that we want to see thorough and conclusive investigations where allegations have been made against parties to the conflict in Yemen regarding international humanitarian law. The Saudi Arabian government has its own internal procedures for investigations and they announced more detail on how they investigate such incidents earlier this year and that any lessons learned would be acted upon. We continue to call on all parties to the conflict in Yemen to comply with international humanitarian law, including to take all feasible precautions to minimise harm to civilians and civilian objects.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Twigg on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that Saudi Arabia and other Coalition states in Yemen cooperate with the UN to develop and implement an action plan to end and prevent violations against children.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We note the announcement by the UN Secretary General on 6 June that removed the listing of the Saudi Arabian-led Coalition from the report’s annex, pending the conclusion of a joint review by the UN and Saudi Arabia on the cases and numbers cited in the text. We welcome co-operation between the UN and Saudi Arabia to look in to this matter.