Asked by: Lord Tyrie (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to the (1) curtailment, and (2) suspension, of overseas aid to India, in light of reports that India has facilitated circumvention of sanctions imposed on Russia.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK has not provided any financial aid to the Government of India since 2015. Our work in India makes investments and deploys world-leading expertise in areas of mutual interest like tackling climate change. To date, approximately £80 million of our ODA investment has been returned to HMG.
Asked by: Lord Tyrie (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many staff working at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office at C5 level or above and working from the office on King Charles Street speak fluent Russian.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Language skills are critical to the FCDO's operation and Russian, as one of the FCDO's five top priority languages, is no exception to this. FCDO officers undertake full-time language training in preparation for roles overseas which require them to speak the local language (known as speaker slots). Although there are no formal 'speaker slot' roles based in King Charles Street, some roles in London (such as Research Analysts) will draw on language skills in their day to day work and officers returning from speaker slots are incentivised to maintain their language skills and 're-qualify' once their FCDO exam pass has expired (after 5 years).
Asked by: Lord Tyrie (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the reasons were for his Department's decision to withhold Diego Garcia flight records that were granted by EuroControl in June 2014.
Answered by Alan Duncan
A request for disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 was declined by the Department for Transport on the grounds that disclosure would be likely to prejudice relations between the United Kingdom and another State under section 27(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Asked by: Lord Tyrie (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Diego Garcia flight records that were granted by EuroControl in June 2014, and withheld by his Department, have been shared with any other Government Departments or with any parliamentary committees.
Answered by Alan Duncan
EuroControl, the European organisation for the safety of Air Navigation, sent flight plan information to the Department for Transport in June 2014. This was subsequently shared with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Asked by: Lord Tyrie (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department has assessed the content of Diego Garcia flight records that were granted by EuroControl in June 2014 to determine whether they contain information relating to extraordinary rendition.
Answered by Alan Duncan
Certain flight plan information relating to the operation of aircraft into Diego Garcia between 1 September 2001 and 31 December 2008 was sent to the Department for Transport by Eurocontrol, the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation, in June 2014.
The information provided was limited to the call sign, registration and type of aircraft involved, the airport (including time and date) of departure, time and date of arrival in Diego Garcia, aircraft operator, operator code and entry time into Eurocontrol's route charges system. All of the data provided related to flights inbound to Diego Garcia. No information was given concerning passengers carried, if any. The vast majority of the entries related to military type aircraft.
Asked by: Lord Tyrie (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, for what reasons the Secret Intelligence Service did not seek assurances on Michael Adebolajo's treatment while in detention from the Kenyan authorities on the day it was notified of his arrest.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) arranged a meeting with a senior Kenyan police officer after being notified of Adebolajo’s arrest, as reported in paragraph 62 on page 28 of the Intelligence and Security Committee’s open report. During this meeting SIS asked for assurances about Adebolajo’s treatment whilst in detention. The Kenyan police gave general assurances as to his treatment. It has been a longstanding policy of successive governments not to comment in detail on matters of intelligence operations.Asked by: Lord Tyrie (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what training his Department has provided to members of the intelligence and security agencies on the Consolidated Guidance to Intelligence Officers and Service Personnel; and if he will make the contents of that training publicly available insofar as is consistent with national security.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
We do not comment on the training of Security and Intelligence Agency Officers.Asked by: Lord Tyrie (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the intelligence and security agencies have taken to improve their record keeping since the publication of the Intelligence and Security Committee Report on the intelligence relating to the murder of Fusilier Lee Rigby.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The Security and Intelligence Agencies are continually reviewing their record-keeping processes to ensure that they meet the developing challenges of the digital age. The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) committed to publishing a full response to the Intelligence and Security Committee's recommendations, including record keeping, in the New Year.