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Written Question
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Ministerial Boxes
Wednesday 7th February 2024

Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how many ministerial red boxes belonging to his Department have been reported (a) lost and (b) stolen in each of the last three years.

Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The following table includes the number of reported lost or stolen ministerial red boxes from the FCDO between 2021 and 2023.

2021

2022

2023

Lost

0

0

0

Stolen

0

0

0

The departmental security team records and investigates each reported loss from the FCDO. If appropriate, the police are invited to undertake further inquiries.


Written Question
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Ministers' Private Offices
Thursday 1st February 2024

Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether any refurbishments have been made to ministerial offices in his Department in each of the last two years.

Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

No refurbishments have been undertaken to Ministerial Offices in the period 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2023.


Written Question
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Bullying and Harassment
Thursday 11th January 2024

Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how many settlement payments his Department issued following claims of (a) bullying, (b) harassment and (c) discrimination in the (i) 2019-20, (ii) 2020-21, (iii) 2021-22 and (iv) 2022-23 financial years.

Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The FCDO has a zero tolerance approach to bullying, harassment and discrimination and is committed to a workplace in which all employees feel respected and fairly treated. In the financial year 2019/2020, there were no settlements following claims of bullying, harassment or discrimination. In each of the subsequent three financial years, there were fewer than five such settlement payments. One settlement payment made in 2022/2023 was in response to a finding by the Employment Tribunal against the FCDO; all other cases were settled with no admission or finding of liability.


Written Question
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Power Failures
Thursday 21st December 2023

Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether there have been any power cuts on their Department's property in each of the last three years.

Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

During the last three years, the FCDO has had no unplanned power cuts at its London sites, or at Abercrombie House; and three power cuts at our Hanslope Park site. The FCDO has resilient back up power at each site, designed to alleviate any external supply failure, and subject to regular and rigorous maintenance and testing.


Written Question
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Security
Friday 8th December 2023

Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how many security passes for his Department have been reported as (a) missing and (b) stolen in the last 12 months.

Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The FCDO takes the protection of information extremely seriously. The FCDO has robust controls in place to manage risk to its assets including data and mobile devices.

The departmental security unit records and considers whether an investigation is appropriate for each reported loss from the Department. Any security pass reported as lost is immediately deactivated.


Written Question
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Theft
Monday 20th November 2023

Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what data their Department holds on the (a) number and (b) total cost of replacing (i) laptops, (ii) mobile phones, (iii) memory sticks and (iv) external hard drives that have been (A) lost and (B) stolen in the last year.

Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The following table includes the number of lost or stolen devices in FCDO in the last year.

Lost

Stolen

Total cost to replace

Laptops

17

42

50,821.78

Mobile phones

134

37

77,575.86

Memory sticks

0

0

0

External hard drives

0

0

0

All departmental IT is fully security encrypted.

FCDO IT and Security teams record and investigate each reported loss from the Department. If appropriate, the police are invited to undertake further inquiries.

Any mobile device reported as lost is immediately and remotely deactivated and the contents deleted. The user account on any laptop reported as lost is immediately and remotely locked.


Written Question
Nagorno Karabakh: Development Aid
Wednesday 13th September 2023

Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department is taking further steps to support people living in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)

The UK Government has publicly highlighted the importance of re-opening the Lachin Corridor into Nagorno-Karabakh and addressing the humanitarian needs of the local population, including at the United Nations Security Council on 16 August 2023. The UK has a strong record of supporting humanitarian responses in this region and FCDO officials are in close contact with humanitarian agencies. The START FUND, a humanitarian response fund to which the UK is a significant donor, has allocated £350,000 to the region. The UK continues to encourage both Armenia and Azerbaijan to make further progress in negotiations to secure an historic peace agreement.


Written Question
Disease Control: Development Aid
Monday 12th June 2023

Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department are taking to help restore access to immunisation services around the world.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically impacted global health and immunisation. The UK Government is committed to supporting efforts to get routine immunisation back on track and has committed £1.65 billion to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance from 2021-2025 to support their mission to immunise 300 million children and save up to 8 million lives from vaccine preventable diseases over this period. Alongside our Gavi investment, we are committed to working with countries and with the wider international community to focus efforts on building stronger primary health systems for the future as a core part of restoring immunisation services around the world.


Written Question
Nigeria: Christianity
Wednesday 7th June 2023

Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Nigerian counterparts on (a) religious freedom and (b) violence against Christians in that country.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

Insecurity in Nigeria is detrimental to the country's diverse communities, including Christians, and undermining freedom of religion or belief. I [Andrew Mitchell] discussed the effects of insecurity on communities with President Tinubu in December 2022. Additionally, in July 2022, at the UK's Ministerial Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief, the Nigerian High Commissioner reiterated his Government's commitment to freedom of religion or belief. Our High Commission in Nigeria regularly engages with Nigerian officials and local communities on this. We will continue to encourage the Nigerian Government to assist affected communities and implement long-term solutions.


Written Question
Israel: Palestinians
Tuesday 23rd May 2023

Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Israel counterparts on (a) the demolitions of homes and infrastructure on the West Bank, (b) use of excessive force and potential attacks on healthcare personnel and facilities, (c) settlement expansion and (d) restrictions on freedom of movement for residents of the West Bank.

Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK Government strongly condemns all forms of violence towards healthcare workers, who should be able to go about their work without obstruction. The UK's position on settlements is clear. They are illegal under international law, present an obstacle to peace and threaten the physical viability of a two-state solution. Demolitions and evictions of Palestinians from their homes cause unnecessary suffering to ordinary Palestinians. We urge Israel to halt its settlement expansion.

The UK has consistently urged the government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority to de-escalate the situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The Foreign Secretary made this point to Israeli Foreign Minister Cohen when he met with him in person on 21 March. The Minister of State for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon also frequently engages with Israelis and Palestinians on these issues.