Asked by: Chris Bryant (Labour - Rhondda)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many bottles of (a) red wine (b) white wine and (c) spirits and brandies from the Government wine cellar were consumed in each of the last two years.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The Bi-Annual Report on the Government Hospitality Wine Cellar for 2020-2022, will include a full breakdown of the number of bottles of red wine, white wine, spirits and brandies from the Government wine cellar that were consumed in each of the last two years and their value. The report will be published before the Christmas recess and copies will be placed in the Libraries of the House when the Written Ministerial Statement has been released.
Asked by: Chris Bryant (Labour - Rhondda)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what is the value of the (a) wine and (b) spirits and brandies from the Government Wine Cellar consumed in each of the last two years.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The Bi-Annual Report on the Government Hospitality Wine Cellar for 2020-2022, will include a full breakdown of the number of bottles of red wine, white wine, spirits and brandies from the Government wine cellar that were consumed in each of the last two years and their value. The report will be published before the Christmas recess and copies will be placed in the Libraries of the House when the Written Ministerial Statement has been released.
Asked by: Chris Bryant (Labour - Rhondda)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when he plans to publish the bi-annual report on the Government Wine Cellar for 2020-22.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The Bi-Annual Report on the Government Hospitality Wine Cellar for 2020-2022, will include a full breakdown of the number of bottles of red wine, white wine, spirits and brandies from the Government wine cellar that were consumed in each of the last two years and their value. The report will be published before the Christmas recess and copies will be placed in the Libraries of the House when the Written Ministerial Statement has been released.
Asked by: Chris Bryant (Labour - Rhondda)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, which of the Prime Minister's (a) Trade and (b) Special Envoys have been provided with (i) office space and (ii) residential accommodation since December 2019.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Prime Minister's Trade Envoys are a network of appointed parliamentarians, drawn from both Houses and across the political spectrum. Special Envoys are officials of the Government.
Both the Prime Minister's Trade and Special Envoys are based in the UK and travel if needed. They are not allocated residential accommodation, either in the UK or overseas. The Trade Envoys are not provided with offices in the UK. FCDO Special Envoys have access to two shared offices in the FCDO in King Charles Street. They can book these on the occasions they wish to use them.
Asked by: Chris Bryant (Labour - Rhondda)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with (a) the US Administration and (b) EU counterparts on the imposition of sanctions on (i) Ali Ghanaatkar, (ii) Ali Rezvani and (iii) Amened Sadat Zahbipour for their role in Iran’s state hostage-taking; and if he will impose sanctions on those individuals.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK will never accept our nationals being used as political leverage. Working with our international partners, including the USA and European Union, we continue to press Iran to end this abhorrent practice. In December 2022, the UK sanctioned ten officials connected to Iran's judicial and prison systems. This includes six individuals linked to the Revolutionary Courts which have been responsible for egregious sentences on British nationals. In January, we sanctioned Iran's Prosecutor General and deputy Prosecutor General, two of the most powerful figures in Iran's judiciary and responsible for the trial process and sentencing. The UK sanctions over 300 Iranian individuals and entities, including in relation to human rights violations, counter-proliferation, regional activity and terrorism. This includes 60 new human rights designations since October 2022. We do not speculate on future designations as doing so could reduce their impact.
Asked by: Chris Bryant (Labour - Rhondda)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if his Department will impose targeted sanctions on those responsible for Iran’s state hostage-taking.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK will never accept our nationals being used as political leverage. Working with our international partners, including the USA and European Union, we continue to press Iran to end this abhorrent practice. In December 2022, the UK sanctioned ten officials connected to Iran's judicial and prison systems. This includes six individuals linked to the Revolutionary Courts which have been responsible for egregious sentences on British nationals. In January, we sanctioned Iran's Prosecutor General and deputy Prosecutor General, two of the most powerful figures in Iran's judiciary and responsible for the trial process and sentencing. The UK sanctions over 300 Iranian individuals and entities, including in relation to human rights violations, counter-proliferation, regional activity and terrorism. This includes 60 new human rights designations since October 2022. We do not speculate on future designations as doing so could reduce their impact.
Asked by: Chris Bryant (Labour - Rhondda)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many subject access requests his Department has (a) received and (b) responded to within the statutory limit in the last five years.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
The FCDO can provide the following data regarding the number of cases received and closed with statutory deadlines over the last 5 years. However, only the last two years are for the FCDO since it was established. The further 3 years are for the legacy FCO and DFID departments.
Year | No of Cases | Closed within statutory limit | Closed |
2021 | 94 | 38 | 75 |
2020 | 114 | 70 | 113 |
2019 | 107 | 76 | 104 |
2018 | 103 | 59 | 100 |
2017 | 101 | 50 | 98 |
Asked by: Chris Bryant (Labour - Rhondda)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 21 September 2022 to Question 48277 on Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Disclosure of Information, when she plans to respond to the Subject Access Request FCDO reference DPR 2022/08995 submitted to her on 17 March 2022.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
On the 6 October the Information Rights Unit at the FCDO responded to your DPR request 2022/08995 with the Information identified to date. The FCDO also committed to identifying any further personal information held by our overseas posts and will provide this information to you as soon as possible.
Asked by: Chris Bryant (Labour - Rhondda)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what was the most expensive bottle of wine (a) purchased by and (b) consumed from the Government Wine Cellar this year.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
The most expensive bottle of wine (a) purchased by the Government Wine Cellar this year was a Ridgeview Blanc de Blanc 2016. The most expensive bottle of wine (b) consumed from the Government Wine Cellar this year was a Chateau Lynch Bages 2000.
Asked by: Chris Bryant (Labour - Rhondda)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many bottles of (a) port, (b) champagne and (c) sherry were consumed from the Government Wine Cellar in 2021.
Answered by Gillian Keegan - Secretary of State for Education
The following number of bottles were consumed from the Government Wine Cellar in 2021.
(a) Port - 22
(b) Champagne - 4
(c) Sherry - 0