Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his counterpart in Pakistan on Asia Bibi.
Answered by Mark Field
We regularly raise our concerns about human rights, including freedom of religion or belief, with the government of Pakistan. We do this at a senior level and the Foreign Secretary has discussed these issues with the Foreign Minister of Pakistan. As the Prime Minister has made clear in Parliament, the UK government’s primary concern is for the safety and well-being of Asia Bibi and her family. We are in contact with international parties about our shared desire to see a swift and positive resolution of the situation.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent steps the Government has taken to end armed conflict between Israel and Palestine.
Answered by Alistair Burt
At this highly sensitive time in the region, there is an urgent need to restart the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians. After the recent outbreak of violence, I called for everyone to step back from the brink and to avoid escalating the situation further. We continue to urge restraint from all parties and welcome the return to calm in recent days. We strongly support the mediation efforts of the international community led by Egypt and the UN and urge continued talks aimed at finding an enduring peace in Gaza under the control of the Palestinian Authority. We regularly press both parties to resume direct negotiations towards a two-state solution. I last discussed the Middle East Peace Process with the Israeli Ambassador to the UK on 11 October.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that the individuals responsible for attacks on Rohingya children are brought to justice.
Answered by Mark Field
The Government condemns the atrocities that have taken place in Rakhine including the violence committed against children. The Foreign Secretary made clear to Burma's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi in their meeting of 20 September that holding to account those responsible for atrocities was of critical importance. The UK co-sponsored the UN Human Rights Council Resolution of 27 September that established a mechanism to collect and preserve evidence of human rights violations in Burma for use in future prosecutions. The UK ensured the Head of the UN Fact Finding Mission was invited to brief the UN Security Council on 24 October. The UK will continue to look at accountability options and work with our international partners to support those assisting victims and building evidence.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will take steps to help ensure that visits and fundraising undertaken by UK schools and faith groups to overseas orphanages do not increase the risk of trafficking and exploitation of children in those orphanages.
Answered by Mark Field
Her Majesty's Government is concerned about reports of the growth of unregistered, unlicensed and unmonitored orphanages overseas, where the risk of exploitation is high. Any UK organisations who are involved in fundraising efforts for overseas institutions should rigorously check with local authorities in the relevant country as to whether the institutions are registered. We are considering how our Embassies and High Commissions can facilitate contact between UK organisations and local authorities, including through Travel Advice. They also take account of sensibilities around faith-group involvement in such work
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his (a) Israeli and (b) Palestinian counterparts on the Middle East peace process.
Answered by Alistair Burt
We regularly press both the Israelis and Palestinians to engage in direct negotiations that will lead to a safe and secure Israel living alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state. Most recently Lord Ahmad visited Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (8-12 April) and stressed the need for an end to all actions that undermine the viability of the two-state solution with the Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Hamdallah, Israeli Minister of Regional Cooperation Tzachi Hanegbi and Israeli Minister of Justice Ayelet Shaked.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of multilateral progress towards nuclear non-proliferation.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The UK remains committed to the long term goal of a world without nuclear weapons. We firmly believe that the best way to achieve this is through gradual multilateral disarmament negotiated using a step-by-step approach and within the framework of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The near-universal NPT has played an unparalleled role in curtailing the nuclear arms race. The UK will attend the next Preparatory Committee for the 2020 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference in April 2018 where we will use that forum to engage with a wide range of states on how we can together tackle the challenges that we face on non-proliferation and disarmament.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many (a) direct employees, (b) agency staff and (c) outsourced staff working for (i) his Department and (ii) agencies of his Department are paid less than the living wage, as defined by the Living Wage Foundation.
Answered by Alan Duncan
As at 16th April 2018, the number of direct employees, agency staff and outsourced staff earning less than the living wage, as defined by the Living Wage foundation, are as follows:-
a) direct employees (UK Based staff) - none;
b) agency staff - none;
c) outsourced staff (i) Foreign and Commonwealth Office - none, (ii) - agencies - 6.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what progress the Government has made on updating Consolidated Guidance on the use of torture.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The Prime Minister made a Written Ministerial Statement on 15 September 2016 informing Parliament that the government would consider what changes could be made to the Consolidated Guidance to address points made by Sir Mark Waller, the then Intelligence Services Commissioner. This work has been taken forward and the government has sought the views of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament on it in the context of their wider Detainee Inquiry. The government will carefully consider the report of the Committee once it is published later this year.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will take steps to seek regular reports from the British Embassy in Beijing on the wellbeing of the two delegates of the Chinese Parliament who voted against the plan to abolish presidential term limits.
Answered by Mark Field
According to the rules of procedure of the National People's Congress, constitutional amendments are voted on via anonymous ballot.
Amendments to China's constitution are ultimately a matter for the Chinese authorities, but we encourage all of our partners to abide by international norms and standards.
Asked by: Lord Field of Birkenhead (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department has a carer's policy for its employees; and what other steps his Department has taken to support employees with caring responsibilities.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office's (FCO) Carers Charter sets out the FCO's policies that can help staff who have a caring responsibility balance their work and caring commitments. The FCO supports the Charity for Civil Servants' Carer's Passport initiative.
The FCO is supported in this area by the Diplomatic Staff Families Association Carers Network, which is a place where staff can share their experiences of reconciling work and care commitments; acts as a gateway to resources for carers; and disseminates information about caring.