Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what plans his Department has to respond the conviction of Matthew Hedges.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The Foreign Secretary has consistently raised Matthew Hedges' case at the highest levels including most recently with the Emirati Foreign Minister on 25 November, and the Crown Prince on 12 November. I also spoke to Emirati Deputy Foreign Minister Anwar Gargash about the case on 23 November. As the Foreign Secretary said, Foreign and Commonwealth Office staff worked incredibly hard to bring about a speedy resolution to Matthew's case. He has now returned to the UK and has reunited with his wife.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what contact and at what level the UK Government has made with its counterparts in the United Arab Emirates subsequent to Matthew Hedges's conviction.
Answered by Alistair Burt
Following the court hearing on Wednesday 21 November, the Foreign Secretary released a statement and discussed Matthew Hedges' case with Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed and the United Arab Emirates Ambassador to the UK. I also spoke to Deputy Foreign Minister Anwar Gargash most recently on 23 November. We welcome the news of Mr Hedges' pardon. He has now returned to the UK and has reunited with his wife
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
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 effect on the UK's bilateral relations with the United Arab Emirates as a result of the treatment of Matthew Hedges in that country.
Answered by Alistair Burt
As the Foreign Secretary said on 22 November, we have a close partnership with the United Arab Emirates. We have been clear that we do not agree with the charges but we are grateful to the UAE for the effort that put into resolving the situtation.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what guidance his Department has provided to (a) universities and (b) academics in the light of Matthew Hedges’s conviction.
Answered by Alistair Burt
We keep all our travel advice, including for the United Arab Emirates, under constant review to ensure it reflects our assessment of the risk to British nationals. We do not update our travel advice in relation to the specific circumstances of every consular assistance case, but will do so if we assess that other British nationals travelling or living in the area may be affected. We encourage all British nationals to make use of our travel advice, alongside other sources of information available to them, to help them plan for a safe trip.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of its travel advice to the United Arab Emirates.
Answered by Alistair Burt
We keep all our travel advice, including for the United Arab Emirates, under constant review to ensure it reflects our assessment of the risk to British nationals. We do not update our travel advice in relation to the specific circumstances of every consular assistance case, but will do so if we assess that other British nationals travelling or living in the area may be affected. We encourage all British nationals to make use of our travel advice, alongside other sources of information available to them, to help them plan for a safe trip.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether UK citizens will have the rights that currently apply to access public services in the EU in the event of the UK leaving the EU and prior to the completion of exit negotiations under Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty.
Answered by David Lidington
The procedure governing a country’s departure from the EU is set out in Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. This provides for a period of two years for the negotiation of exit terms. EU laws would continue to apply to the departing Member State until the Article 50 agreement had entered into force, or for two years if no agreement had been reached and no extension to the two year period had been granted. A request for an extension could only be granted with the unanimous agreement of the remaining Member States.Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of whether UK citizens would retain ownership rights over property elsewhere in the EU during the period prior to the completion of Article 50 negotiations relating to the Lisbon Treaty in the event of the UK voting to leave the EU.
Answered by David Lidington
The procedure governing a country’s departure from the EU is set out in Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. This provides for a period of two years for the negotiation of exit terms. EU laws would continue to apply to the departing Member State until the Article 50 agreement had entered into force, or for two years if no agreement had been reached and no extension to the two year period had been granted. A request for an extension could only be granted with the unanimous agreement of the remaining Member States.Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he plans to take in response to the decision of the House on 13 October 2014 in respect of recognition of Palestine.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
I have discussed the debate with senior Israeli and Palestinian officials. I reiterated that we share Parliament’s commitment to recognising a Palestinian State as a contribution to a negotiated two state solution, at a time most helpful to the peace process. The UK is a long-standing supporter of seeing a sovereign, democratic and viable Palestinian State - living in peace and security, alongside Israel.Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much his Department spent on the purchase of televisions in (a) 2013 and (b) 2014 to date.
Answered by David Lidington
This information is not held centrally. It could be collected only at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many officials employed by his Department, of each grade, have remained at that grade since 2010 but received a pay rise; and how much of a rise each such person at each such grade has received.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office entered a two year pay freeze with effect from 1 April 2011. Senior Civil Servants (SMS officers) pay was also frozen in 2010. During the pay freeze, the only staff who received pay increases were those whose salary was less than £21,000 who received a pay increase of at least £250 depending on their performance, in line with HM Treasury public sector pay policy. The FCO emerged from the pay freeze in 2013.
In 2013 and 2014, staff who performed their role to the required standards received an average 1% salary increase. The exception was staff earning less than £21,000, who continued to receive at least £250, depending on performance.
The numbers of staff that stayed in the same grade from 2010 to 2014 are set out below.
A1 7
A2 363
B3 345
C4 407
C5 138
D6 312
D7 159
All SMS 173
Grand Total 1904