Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
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 potential effect on people living under repressive regimes of losing the option of listening to the BBC World Service via radio, with particular reference to the ability of such regimes to (a) impede the availability of online broadcast services and (b) discover and arrest those listening illegally online; and how many (i) full-time and (ii) part-time posts in each country where BBC World Service radio broadcasts are ending (A) have been and (B) are scheduled to be lost.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The BBC recently announced plans to move certain language services to digital-only, whilst maintaining access to the full range of 42 language services, and providing assurance that the World Service will continue to serve audiences in need, ensuring continued access to vital news services.
The FCDO strongly supports the BBC's role in bringing high-quality, impartial news to audiences around the world, including where internet restrictions are a tool of repression. We recognise that in the current fiscal context, the BBC, like other organisations, is facing difficult financial decisions.
The BBC is operationally and editorially independent from Government, and it is for the BBC to comment on matters relating to staffing and service delivery.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of creating an augmentation force consisting of recently retired (a) diplomats and (b) other relevant officials to provide surge capacity in (i) Ukraine and (ii) other States facing emergencies; and if she will make it her policy to commission a pilot scheme to test the feasibility and practicability of that proposal.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The FCDO has established capabilities that provide surge capacity. These include FCDO's humanitarian and civilian stabilisation roster. These capabilities provide rapidly deployable, specialist expertise, are open to all non-civil servants, including retirees, and ensure the UK Government is able to access UK expertise to deliver impact and value for money for the taxpayer.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 23 February 2022 to Question 124937 on Sovico Group: Linacre College, if she will publish (a) correspondence, (b) advice, (c) emails and (d) notes held by her Department on Linacre College and the University of Oxford working with Vietnamese entities in each of the last 2 years, including background information supplied to (i) Linacre College and (ii) the University of Oxford on working with those entities relating to (A) the Sovico Group and (B) Nguyen Thi Phurong Thao.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
FCDO Officials have given background information to Linacre College and the University of Oxford, at the request of these institutions, in line with the advice we offer UK organisations and businesses looking to work with Vietnamese entities. The offer would be the same globally.
It would not be appropriate to publish background advice given to any third party institution.