Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that people can access humanitarian aid in Sudan.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The humanitarian situation in Sudan is worsening dramatically. The UK's top humanitarian priority is to secure operational security guarantees and workable humanitarian access. There can be no international aid without safe and reliable access. We will work with international partners to support the UN to be able to scale-up delivery within Sudan so they can move quickly to respond if and when the access situation improves. The UK will support a well-coordinated and prioritised regional response.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has taken recent steps to help support Palestinians affected by the evictions from Masafer Yatta.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK opposes these evictions. Demolitions and evictions of Palestinians from their homes cause unnecessary suffering to ordinary Palestinians; call into question Israel's commitment to a viable two-state solution; and in all but the most exceptional of cases, demolitions by an occupying power are contrary to International Humanitarian Law. The Minister of State for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, reiterated this position to Israeli Foreign Minister Cohen during his visit to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories in January, at which time he also visited a UK-donor funded school in Masafer Yatta. Lord Ahmad has also raised the issue of demolitions with Israeli Ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely, in subsequent meetings. The UK continues to provide financial and political support for communities like those in Masafer Yatta through its contributions to the West Bank Political Consortium and staff at the British Consulate General in Jerusalem make regular working-level visits to Masafer Yatta, most recently on 16 April.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many officials in (a) his private office and (b) the wider Department have been allocated to the production and promotion of online content for use on social media in (a) 2018-19, (b) 2019-20 and (c) 2020-21.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The Communications directorate is responsible for delivering digital communications on behalf of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and supporting the social media activity of an overseas network of embassies. In the years 2018-2019, 2019-2020 and 2020-21 between 20 and 30 people have worked in the Communications directorate and key communications hubs to support and deliver digital communications activity. This covers those working to produce and disseminate social media content, deliver social media training, website publishing and social media analytics and evaluation.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many officials in their Department were dedicated to their Department's responsibilities associated with the delivery of the Industrial Strategy in (a) 2017, (b) 2018, (c) 2019, (d) 2020 and (e) 2021.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The Industrial Strategy is a cross-government policy which comprises and drives a significant number of initiatives. These span a wide array of policy areas across 20 government departments and arm's-length bodies.
Given the breadth of the delivery work, it is difficult to obtain accurate figures for resources associated with the Industrial Strategy within the FCDO. The information is not readily available/held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Darren Jones (Labour - Bristol North West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of climate change on the work of his Department; and what steps he is taking in response to that effect.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
Climate change is one of the most urgent and pressing challenges facing the world today. However, no country alone can solve this problem. That is why climate change is a top priority for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and why the British government bid and secured responsibility to host COP26 in Glasgow this year, in partnership with Italy. COP26 will be a major international moment in 2020, and the FCO network will have a key diplomatic role to play, along with other government departments, in efforts to raise global ambition in all countries to tackle climate change.