Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if her Department will publish the business case from the British Council in respect of the restructuring plans, including the (a) financial cost of the pay bill and (b) numbers of staff likely to be affected.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
It is for the British Council to comment on the terms of their restructuring plans.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will publish the terms and conditions of the loan imposed by her Department on the British Council.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The FCDO has provided a £100million loan to support the British Council's restructuring plan. The loan was made in line with the Market Economy Operator Principle to ensure the UK government complied with state aid regulation and the terms were commercially comparable. As these loans are intended to support the Council's commercial operations, assessments have been conducted on the British Council's financial data and credit worthiness to ensure the terms are in line with those which any private operator would provide.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the average pay bill is for an employee of the British Council, including National Insurance and pension contributions.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The British Council publishes staff costs as part of its Annual Accounts. It would be for the British Council to comment on more detailed payments.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department has applied EU state rules to the loan provided to the British Council; and whether those rules still apply after the UK's exit from the EU.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The FCDO has provided a £100m loan to support the British Council's restructuring plan. The loan was made in line with the Market Economy Operator Principle to ensure the UK government complied with state aid regulation. The UK is still required to be in compliance with several international obligations on state subsidies and needs to ensure that subsidies do not have a competitive advantage in the market it operates in and fair trade is not distorted.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the future earnings of the British Council after the sale of its IELTS business in India.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The FCDO worked closely with the British Council, UK Government Investments, Ernst & Young, and Lazard to assess the sale of the IELTS business in India. The offer was fair and reasonable, and the proceeds from the sale will strengthen the British Council's financial position and support its modernisation process.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many roles in the British Council her Department plans to privatise between 2021 and 2022; and how many of those roles will be based (a) overseas and (b) in the UK.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The FCDO has no plans to privatise any British Council roles.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of reported multiple human rights abuses committed by the Colombian police during recent protests in that country.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The UK Government remains concerned about reports of human rights violations in Colombia. The fundamental human right to peaceful assembly and association must be guaranteed. Colombia is a UK 'Human Rights Priority Country,' and we have raised our concerns with the relevant state actors in Colombia since protests began. Most recently, I spoke with acting Foreign Minister Adriana Mejía on 14 May to express our concerns, and welcome Colombia's commitment to transparent investigations into allegations of abuse.
We look to the Colombian authorities to investigate fully any excessive use of force, and take appropriate action against those responsible. Security services must be held accountable for their actions, with all complaints thoroughly investigated. We will continue to work closely with the UN Verification Mission, and the UN Office of the High Representative for Human Rights in Colombia, as well as the wider international community, in support of their efforts to reduce tensions, and promote dialogue.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the Colombian Government’s investigation into alleged human rights abuses by the police during protests in that country on 9 and 10 September 2020.
Answered by Wendy Morton
We are clear that we support the right of all Colombians to protest peacefully. We look to the Colombian authorities to investigate fully the excessive use of force against protesters, and take appropriate action against those responsible. Security services must be held accountable for their actions, with all complaints thoroughly investigated.
UK Ministers and officials regularly raise human rights issues with their Colombian counterparts, and we will continue to do so. Most recently, the UK's Ambassador for Human Rights, Rita French, raised our concerns around media freedom, sexual violence, and the killing of human rights defenders during her virtual visit to Colombia in February.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations he has made to his Turkish counterpart on the use of anti-terrorism legislation against (a) elected members of the People’s Democratic Party and (b) other elected officials.
Answered by Wendy Morton
We have made it clear to Turkey that we expect the government to undertake any legal processes or actions against opposition parties, MPs, party officials, elected mayors, human rights defenders and journalists, fairly, transparently and with full respect for the rule of law. We will continue to engage closely with Turkey to encourage the full protection of fundamental rights of all peoples, regardless of their legitimate political affiliations, particularly in the area of freedom of expression and assembly, press freedom and the treatment of detainees. We will also continue to raise the human rights situation in Turkey in multilateral organisations, as we did at the UN Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review of Turkey in January 2020.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations he has made to his Turkish counterpart on that country's use anti-terror legislation to close down the open and democratic operations of the People’s Democratic Party by the ruling Justice and Development Party and Nationalist Movement Party alliance.
Answered by Wendy Morton
We have made it clear to Turkey that we expect the government to undertake any legal processes or actions against opposition parties, MPs, party officials, elected mayors, human rights defenders and journalists, fairly, transparently and with full respect for the rule of law. We will continue to engage closely with Turkey to encourage the full protection of fundamental rights of all peoples, regardless of their legitimate political affiliations, particularly in the area of freedom of expression and assembly, press freedom and the treatment of detainees. We will also continue to raise the human rights situation in Turkey in multilateral organisations, as we did at the UN Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review of Turkey in January 2020.