Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the potential (a) merits and (b) risks of changing his Department’s advice against all travel to Libya.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
All FCDO travel advice pages remain under constant review to ensure they reflect the latest threat assessment to British nationals and include up-to-date information and advice.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make it his policy to increase the UK's Official Development Assistance budget to 0.7 per cent of GNI when the UK's fiscal situation allows.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The UK Government is committed to returning to spending 0.7 per cent of GNI on official development assistance when the fiscal situation allows, and has provided a clear measure for this. The two key tests are (1) When we are not borrowing to support day-to-day spending. That means when the current budget is in surplus. (2) When underlying debt is falling. This is measured by Public Sector Net Debt (excluding the Bank of England) as a percentage of GDP. When these tests are met then the UK Government will increase ODA spending above 0.5 per cent of GNI to 0.7 per cent of GNI. On 13 July, the UK Government provided Members of Parliament the opportunity to debate its proposed course of action and pathway back to 0.7 per cent. The House voted clearly with a majority of 35 votes to approve the approach set out in the Treasury's 12 July Written Ministerial Statement.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the potential (a) merits and (b) risks of changing his Department's advice against all travel to Libya.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
All FCDO travel advice pages remain under constant review to ensure they reflect the latest threat assessment to British nationals and include up-to-date information and advice.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that applications for Emergency Travel Documents are processed in line with her Department's service standards.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is responsible for issuing Emergency Travel Documents (ETDs) to British people overseas who do not have their full passport available and who need to travel urgently. The published target is that, in straightforward cases, ETDs will normally be ready in two working days once a full and complete application is received.
In a normal year the FCDO issues over 30,000 ETDs. To ensure we can provide a more consistent service, in line with the published target, the FCDO has recently completed a global programme to centralise ETD processing into a specialised global ETD service centre in three locations. From May 2021 all British people have been able to apply online 24/7, and have their application processed by dedicated ETD staff, with the option to collect their ETD in person from a British Embassy or Consulate or, for those eligible, have it couriered to them. The ETD service centre frees up other consular staff at posts overseas to focus on delivering high quality, professional consular assistance to those who most need our help.
The FCDO is continuously improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the service it offers to British people requiring an ETD. It uses customer satisfaction surveys and feedback to develop the application process as well as collection and courier options. The latest satisfaction survey (Q3/Q4 2020-21) records that 89% of applicants are satisfied with the ETD service they receive.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what support the Government is providing to Tunisia in their covid-19 vaccine roll out.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK is committed to rapid equitable access to safe and effective vaccines. We are among the largest donors to the COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC), committing £548 million which leveraged through match funding $1 billion from other donors in 2020. This support to COVAX has been critical to it supplying COVID-19 vaccines to over 120 countries and economies.
Tunisia is supported by the COVAX AMC, which has so far delivered over 350,000 vaccines to Tunisia.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
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 his Tunisian counterpart on the covid-19 restrictions on travel between the two countries.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
On 17 May the Government lifted the legal restrictions on international travel, but strict rules on testing and quarantine will remain in place to protect public health and our vaccination programme. The British Embassy in Tunis is in regular contact with the Tunisian Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Health and Tourism on the issue of Covid-19 restrictions and travel between the two countries.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what additional steps his Department is taking to support the Government of Tunisia to (a) reform the economy of and (b) tackle the covid-19 outbreak in that country.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK works closely with Tunisia to support political and economic reform, bolster democratic institutions, and build the country's resilience as part of a broad and growing partnership. We have supported the democratic transition through helping to build the capacity of parliamentarians and officials. We are providing £4m over 3 years through the British Council to fund English language training and to help young Tunisians gain important job skills. We are also working with the World Bank to support macro-economic reforms.
The UK has a strong partnership with Tunisia on security issues, which has helped strengthen our response to the shared challenges of terrorism and extremism, and to work together to address the conflict in Libya.
The UK is supporting the Tunisian Government to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic, including by helping it to secure vaccines through COVAX. Other initiatives include supporting the Tunisian Ministry of Health on their vaccine rollout as part of a World Bank-led initiative, providing support to small and medium businesses, and ensuring access to services and social security for the most vulnerable people.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the UK's role in securing continued prosperity, security and stability across the Maghreb region as part of ongoing diplomatic relations with Tunisia.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK works closely with Tunisia to support political and economic reform, bolster democratic institutions, and build the country's resilience as part of a broad and growing partnership. We have supported the democratic transition through helping to build the capacity of parliamentarians and officials. We are providing £4m over 3 years through the British Council to fund English language training and to help young Tunisians gain important job skills. We are also working with the World Bank to support macro-economic reforms.
The UK has a strong partnership with Tunisia on security issues, which has helped strengthen our response to the shared challenges of terrorism and extremism, and to work together to address the conflict in Libya.
The UK is supporting the Tunisian Government to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic, including by helping it to secure vaccines through COVAX. Other initiatives include supporting the Tunisian Ministry of Health on their vaccine rollout as part of a World Bank-led initiative, providing support to small and medium businesses, and ensuring access to services and social security for the most vulnerable people.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to support the Government of Tunisia in developing and strengthening democracy in (a) parliament and (b) other democratic institutions.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK works closely with Tunisia to support political and economic reform, bolster democratic institutions, and build the country's resilience as part of a broad and growing partnership. We have supported the democratic transition through helping to build the capacity of parliamentarians and officials. We are providing £4m over 3 years through the British Council to fund English language training and to help young Tunisians gain important job skills. We are also working with the World Bank to support macro-economic reforms.
The UK has a strong partnership with Tunisia on security issues, which has helped strengthen our response to the shared challenges of terrorism and extremism, and to work together to address the conflict in Libya.
The UK is supporting the Tunisian Government to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic, including by helping it to secure vaccines through COVAX. Other initiatives include supporting the Tunisian Ministry of Health on their vaccine rollout as part of a World Bank-led initiative, providing support to small and medium businesses, and ensuring access to services and social security for the most vulnerable people.
Asked by: Damien Moore (Conservative - Southport)
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 level of support in the UK for parliamentary democracy in Tunisia.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK works closely with Tunisia to support political and economic reform, bolster democratic institutions, and build the country's resilience as part of a broad and growing partnership. We have supported the democratic transition through helping to build the capacity of parliamentarians and officials. We are providing £4m over 3 years through the British Council to fund English language training and to help young Tunisians gain important job skills. We are also working with the World Bank to support macro-economic reforms.
The UK has a strong partnership with Tunisia on security issues, which has helped strengthen our response to the shared challenges of terrorism and extremism, and to work together to address the conflict in Libya.
The UK is supporting the Tunisian Government to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic, including by helping it to secure vaccines through COVAX. Other initiatives include supporting the Tunisian Ministry of Health on their vaccine rollout as part of a World Bank-led initiative, providing support to small and medium businesses, and ensuring access to services and social security for the most vulnerable people.