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 companies supplying goods and services to his Department, or contracted to deliver services on behalf of his Department, have been identified as avoiding their tax liabilities in the UK.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office incorporates Government Procurement Policy Note (PPN) 03/14 in its internal guidance. This PPN requires rigorous questioning to establish the tax compliance of suppliers for all procurement of £5m or more.
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 his Department's estimate is of the amount of EU legislation and regulation that can be incorporated into UK law without amendment.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The European Union (Withdrawal) Bill will convert European Union law into UK law as it applies in the UK at the moment of exit. The Government is still making a detailed assessment of what corrections will be required to make that law function appropriately on exit day. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is working with the Department for Exiting the European Union to ensure we make the changes required to deliver a functioning statute book on leaving the EU in the most efficient manner possible.
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 investigate the disappearance in Turkey of Gary Burns.
Answered by Alan Duncan
We are providing consular assistance to the family of Gary Burns and are helping them to liaise with the Turkish authorities about his disappearance. So far there is no clear evidence about what might have happened.
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 the Government of Iran on that Government's treatment of Christians.
Answered by Alistair Burt
I last raised concerns about the persecution of religious and ethnic minorities, including the detention and treatment of Christians, with the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi during my visit to Tehran on 5 August.
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 the Government of Iran on the arrest and imprisonment of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.
Answered by Alistair Burt
I raised the case of Mrs Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe in a phone call with the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister on 21 June. Our ambassador to Iran also regularly raises Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's case with Iranian authorities and will continue to do so.
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 the Government of Iran on the arrest and imprisonment of Kamal Foroughi.
Answered by Alistair Burt
I raised the case of Mr Kamal Foroughi in a phone call with the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister on 21 June. Our ambassador to Iran also regularly raises Mr Foroughi's case with Iranian authorities and will continue to do so.
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 cut all utility supplies to the Ecuadorian Embassy in London and any other embassy that hosts people who have been charged with committing serious crimes.
Answered by Alan Duncan
Article 25 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961 (VCDR) requires receiving States to "accord full facilities for the performance of the functions of" foreign diplomatic missions. The VCDR is given effect in UK law by the Diplomatic Privileges Act 1964.
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 assessment he has made of the effectiveness of enforcement of international humanitarian and human rights law in respect of children by the UN Human Rights Council in Yemen.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
We worked hard with international partners to secure a strong resolution to help the situation on the ground in Yemen. The resolution includes a commitment to increase the number of international human rights experts in the Yemen Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) operation, making clear the independent mandate for OHCHR to conduct their own investigations. The resolution also maintains the technical cooperation programme for OHCHR to strengthen the National Commission in Yemen, which we believe will make a difference on the ground. We look forward to reports from the OHCHR next 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, what recent representations he has made to the government of Israel on that government's resettlement programme and the demolition of Susiya and Umm al-Hiran.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The village of Susiya is located in the Occupied Palestinian Territories whilst the village of Umm al-Hiran is located within Israel.
Our Embassy in Tel Aviv has repeatedly raised our opposition to demolitions with the Israeli authorities, including our specific concerns about Susiya, and urged them to provide a legal route for Palestinian construction. On 18 August, officials from the British Consulate General in Jerusalem, along with an official from our Embassy in Tel Aviv, visited Susiya again to highlight our serious concern and demonstrate our continuing support for the village. We most recently raised Susiya with Defence Minister Lieberman on 24 August.
The UK has been encouraging the Israeli authorities and Bedouin communities to find a satisfactory solution to Umm al-Hiran, respecting the equality of all of Israel’s citizens in a way which avoids forcible relocations.
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 people working for his Department or its executive agencies on a (a) directly employed, (b) agency or (c) outsourced basis are paid less than the living wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation; and how many of those people are employed on zero-hours contracts.
Answered by Alan Duncan
No member of staff of the Foreign and Commonwealth (FCO) or its Executive Agencies who is directly employed is paid less than the living wage.
The FCO defines zero-hours contracts as a contract of employment which does not specify a fixed number of hours per week, and has no guaranteed minimum number of hours. The FCO uses this type of contract to cope with fluctuating demand and/or retain specialist expertise no longer available in the current workforce. For example, we bring back retired FCO officers with relevant skills/experience to act as sensitivity reviewers or VIP visit liaison officers.
Our centrally held records do not enable us to differentiate between staff on zero-hours contracts and those on contracts with a fixed number of hours. To provide this information would incur disproportionate cost.
We do not hold a record of contract status for staff employed by companies providing outsourced services to the FCO.