Asked by: Lord Dobbs (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the total number of deaths as a result of the civil war in Syria since 2011.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The United Nations have estimated that over 400,000 people have been killed as a result of the civil war in Syria since the start of the conflict in 2011: we have not made our own estimate.
Asked by: Lord Dobbs (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the operational budget for the British Council in each of the last ten years.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The British Council has provided the following figures from their Annual Reports which reflect the total resources expended for each of the last ten years.
| 2007-08 | 2008-09 | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 |
Total resources expended (£'000) | 557,402 | 621,579 | 708,083 | 665,321 | 720,413 | 785,333 | 880,410 | 975,880 | 971,363 | 1,085,934 |
Further information on the British Council’s finances are available from their Annual Reports which are online and in the parliamentary library.
Asked by: Lord Dobbs (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much the BBC World Service received in government subsidy in each of the last ten years.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Prior to 2013/14 the Government provided the BBC World Service with Grant-in-Aid funding through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. From 2014/15 onwards core World Service activity was funded through the Licence Fee. In 2015 the Government announced additional funding for the World Service for the BBC World 2020 programme. £291 million will be invested from 2016/17 to 2019/20 to expand provision, including the creation of 12 new language services. New and enhanced services for BBC World Service will provide more people around the world with access to accurate, impartial and independent information.
The published BBC figures for government funding to the World Service, including Grant-in-Aid prior to 2014/15 and BBC World 2020 funding from 2016/17, are therefore as follows:
Financial Year | £m |
2008/09 | 265.0 |
2009/10 | 268.0 |
2010/11 | 265.5 |
2011/12 | 255.2 |
2012/13 | 244.2 |
2013/14 | 238.5 |
2014/15 | 0 |
2015/16 | 0 |
2016/17 | 34.0 |
2017/18 | 85.0 |
Asked by: Lord Dobbs (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the political objectives of the Free Syrian Army.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The Free Syrian Army is a collective term used by a range of moderate opposition groups in Syria who are fighting the regime and Daesh. The Free Syrian Army are fighting to change the regime in Syria; they call for a pluralistic system that respects the rights of all Syrians. They reject terrorism and terrorist tactics, and have condemned Islamic extremism. They have been fighting both the regime and Daesh in Syria for over two years with success in a number of areas, in particular in Idlib and Aleppo in Northwest Syria and in Dera'a Province in the South.