Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment the Government has made of the implications for its policies of the Paraskevopoulos Law in Greece.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
We are concerned about the implications of the Paraskevopoulos Law, which allows early release of potentially dangerous convicted criminals in Greece. The European Parliament raised concerns in February this year about the Law's effect on security within the Schengen area.
Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 2 October 2019 to Question 290335 and to the Answer of 1 October 2019 to Question 290324, if he will introduce the same policy as the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and switch to an electricity provider that supplies electricity solely from renewable resources within the next 12 months; and for what reason his Department has not already ensured its electricity is supplied solely from renewable resources.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
The electricity used by the FCO across its UK estate is procured using the Crown Commercial Service (CCS). CCS is an executive agency and trading fund of the Cabinet Office of the British Government.
Through their competitively tendered Energy related commercial agreements, CCS ensure all legislation is adhered to including the environmental standards of suppliers. CCS is not able to dictate the sources of power to be supplied to the government departments as this is internal policy driven. The FCO is currently receiving electricity from the standard UK supply mix, however they have the option to access renewable energy from a variety of alternative routes, taking into account the additional financial commitment.
The current CCS framework under which the FCO procures its electricity expires in 2023. Under the CCS framework, the electricity is supplied by EDF. The electricity supplied is not solely from renewable resources. The CCS Framework does provide the ability to have electricity solely from renewable resources. The FCO is investigating this option.
The FCO actively seeks to manage its energy consumption as demonstrated by having reduced carbon emissions associated with its UK energy consumption from 9,485 tCO2e in 2017/18 to 7,357 tCO2e in 2018/19, a reduction of 22.44%.
Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the (a) US withdrawal from and (b) Turkish incursion into Kurdish controlled territory in Syria on (i) UK security and (ii) the global geopolitical situation.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
As the Foreign Secretary has said, Turkey's military action has seriously undermined the stability and security of the region. We are deeply concerned about the humanitarian consequences, and the risk that this undermines the progress made in the fight against Daesh. The safety and security of the UK and its citizens is the Government's number one priority and we continue to monitor the situation closely. The UK remains fully committed to the long-term security of the region and to the Global Coalition against Daesh.
US troop movements have always been a matter for the US Government.
Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions the Government has had with the Turkish Government on the Turkish military incursion into Kurdish controlled territory in Syria.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The UK has been consistently clear with Turkey on our opposition to its military action in north-east Syria. The Prime Minister spoke to President Erdogan on the 12 October and called on Turkey to end its military operation. The Defence Secretary and Foreign Secretary have also communicated these messages to their Turkish counterparts.
Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his US counterpart on the US decision to withdraw military forces from the Kurdish controlled territory in Syria.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Government has been in close contact with the United States over the situation in north-east Syria. The Foreign Secretary has spoken to both Secretary of State Pompeo and National Security Adviser O'Brien on this issue. The Prime Minister and the Defence Secretary have also spoken to their US counterparts. We will continue to work closely with our international partners on this issue.
Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, on which dates US citizen Anne Sacoolas held diplomatic status in the UK.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
The US member of staff and his family were notified to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on arrival in the UK by the US Embassy under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. His spouse had immunity while in the UK. Immunity ended when she returned to the US.
Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department holds information on the potential involvement of the US Embassy in the departure of Anne Sacoolas from the UK.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
As part of their day to day business, diplomatic missions in the UK are responsible for making arrangements for the arrival and departure of the personnel and dependents they send to the UK.
Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department holds information on when the US Embassy became aware of Anne Sacoolas's suspected involvement in a fatal road traffic collision on 27 August 2019.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
We do not hold this information. This is a matter for the US Embassy.
Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affiars, what assessment he has made of the level of compliance of signatories with Article VI of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons; and what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in states with nuclear weapons on reducing their stockpile of nuclear weapons.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) has been a success. Over the last 50 years it has minimised the proliferation of nuclear weapons; provided the framework for significant levels of nuclear disarmament – the UK has reduced its warhead numbers by over half since their Cold War peak – and provided the framework to develop secure and safe peaceful uses of nuclear energy globally.
The UK continues to work with its allies to encourage all possessor states to recognise their responsibilities and remain committed to the gradual multilateral disarmament negotiated within the framework of the NPT, as the security situation allows. For example, the UK is chairing the P5 process, a forum for the UK, US, France, China and Russia to discuss disarmament and non-proliferation issues. It builds trust and confidence, and contributes to improving the current security environment. The UK also plays a leading role on nuclear disarmament verification, which will ensure technologies and procedures are in place to provide confidence that nuclear weapons have been eliminated.
Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which provider supplies energy to his Department; how much CO2 was emitted through his Department’s energy consumption in the latest period for which figures are available; whether the criteria his Department uses to selecting an energy supplier includes how environmentally friendly the supplier is; and what recent steps his Department has taken to reduce CO2 emissions from its energy use.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) uses theEnergy Suppliers listed below:
| Electricity | Gas | Other |
King Charles Street | EDF | EON | Whitehall District Heating |
Hanslope Park | EDF | N/A | Fuel-Oil – Certas Energy |
Lancaster House | EDF | British Gas &Corona |
|
Carlton Gardens | EDF | Corona |
|
Wilton Park | EDF & British Gas | EDF & Corona | Biomass - woodchip from The Wiston Estate Gas Oil - Pace Fuelcare |
The energy used by the FCO across its UK estate is procured using the Crown Commercial Service (CCS), apart from Fuel Oil at Wilton Park.
We endeavour to use renewable and low carbon heat where feasible, however due to operational reasons other fuel-oils are needed to supplement these.
In 2018/19 the FCO's UK energy consumption accounted for 7357 tCO2e. A focus for the FCO is to reduce the electricity consumption across its estate through a roll-out of energy efficient user IT equipment, moving towards a virtualised data centre environment, as data centre electricity accounts for around 30% of total FCO UK electricity consumption, and more widely looking into the feasibility of renewable and low carbon energy and heat across its estate.
The carbon emissions figure quoted above represents CO2 emitted from energy consumption for the FCO's UK operations, in line with our reporting for the Greening Government Commitments targets and in our annual sustainability report.