Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2020 to Question 106363 on Overseas Aid and pursuant to his oral contribution of 22 October 2020, column 492WH that his Department listens to concerns raised by colleagues from both sides of the House about the need for greater transparency on the Integrated Activity Fund and Gulf Strategy Fund, if he will publish a list of the titles of the 44 projects delivered by the Integrated Activity Fund in 2018-19.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
As stated on 22 October, we will publish a programme summary covering activities funded by the Gulf Strategy Fund in 2020/21. We do not disclose information related to individual Integrated Activity Fund projects to maintain the confidence and confidentiality of implementers and our Gulf partners.
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2020 to Question 106364 on Overseas Aid, how many projects for each of the financial years (a) 2016-17, (b) 2017-18, (c) 2018-19 and (d) 2019-20 his Department applied for under the Integrated Activity Fund; what the titles of those projects were; how many of those projects were approved; and how many of those projects were subjected to Overseas Security and Justice Assistance assessments.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
We do not disclose information related to individual Integrated Activity Fund projects to maintain the confidence and confidentiality of our Gulf partners.
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 16 October 2020 to Question 102832 on Overseas Aid, which Government departments applied for those 13 projects in financial year 2018-19 that were covered by an Overseas Security and Justice Assessment; and how many of those projects each of those Government departments applied for.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
We do not disclose information related to individual Integrated Activity Fund projects to maintain the confidence and confidentiality of our Gulf partners.
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2020 to Question 106362 on Overseas Aid, which Government departments applied for the 16 projects covered by Overseas Security and Justice Assessments in financial year 2019-20; and how many projects each of those Government departments so applied for.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
We do not disclose information related to individual Integrated Activity Fund projects to maintain the confidence and confidentiality of our Gulf partners.
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many applications for funding from the Integrated Activity Fund over £50,000 were approved in financial year 2019-20; what the value was of each of those applications; and which Department or Minister requested that funding.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
20 applications over £50,000 were approved in 2019/20. The Integrated Activity Fund expenditure for that year was £12.4 million.
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much funding the College of Policing has received through the Integrated Activity Fund to deliver activities to bodies based in, or working in (a) Saudi Arabia, (b) Bahrain, (c) Kuwait, (d) Oman, (e) Qatar and (f) the United Arab Emirates.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The College of Policing only received Integrated Activity Fund funding for activities in Bahrain. I refer the Honourable Member to my answer of June 19 to question 58024 and 58028.
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the cost has been of the Gulf Strategy Integrated Delivery Team (IDT) by financial year from 2019-20; what the budget is for the IDT for the financial year 2020-21; and how many full-time and part-time military and civilian individuals are employed on that team.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The cost of Integrated Delivery Team (IDT) in 2019/20 was £309,000. The IDT has now been disbanded and the residual costs for FY20/21 were £34,145.
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the (a) spend and (b) allocated budget has been of the Integrated Activity Fund to date, by financial year, since the start of the program in 2015.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The Integrated Activity Fund was allocated £20m each year from 2016/17 to 2019/20. Actual expenditure was £10.5m in 2016/17, £13.9m in 2017/18, £17.08m in 2018/19 and £12.4m in 2019/20.
£8.4m has been allocated for 2020/21 to deliver programme activities in the Gulf.
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the Government has provided technical assistance to (a) Saudi Arabia, (b) Kuwait, (c) UAE, (d) Oman and (e) Qatar since 2011.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The Government has provided technical assistance to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar since 2011. This technical assistance covers a broad range of non-financial support, including training and the sharing of expertise.
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the death sentence passed on Asif Pervaiz for blasphemy on 8 September 2020.
Answered by Nigel Adams
We are aware of the case of Asif Pervaiz and are closely following developments. We regularly raise at a senior level the issue of the blasphemy laws with the authorities in Pakistan. The UK's position on the death penalty is well known - we are firmly opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances. We will continue to urge the Government of Pakistan to guarantee the fundamental rights of all its citizens, in accordance with international standards. Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon last raised our human rights concerns with Pakistan's Minister for Human Rights, Dr Shireen Mazari, on 27 August.