Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Angolan counterpart on food supply in that country.
Answered by James Duddridge
The Angolan government is leading the response to food shortages in provinces in the West of Angola. The UK is supporting this work through multilateral organisations such as the EU and UN. The agricultural sector is one of the areas of focus of the High Level Prosperity Partnership between Angola and the UK that was launched in 2013. Officials from the Angolan Ministry of Agriculture and Trade have recently visited the United Kingdom for discussions about how to develop Angolan wheat production, storage and transport systems.
Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for International Development on the food supply crisis in Angola.
Answered by James Duddridge
Although the Department for International Development (DfID) no longer has an in-country programme in Angola, it does provide humanitarian oversight and engages with multilateral organisations, such as the UN and EU. FCO and DfID officials are in regular discussions about the international response to food security issues.
Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his French and German counterparts about assistance to the Kurdistan regional government.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
We continue to consult closely with other members of the coalition on how to defeat ISIL. The UK, France and Germany have all provided equipment to the Kurds.
Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the security threat to Israel from Hamas.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
We have not undertaken a formal assessment of the security threat to Israel from Hamas.
Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the implementation of each of the recommendations in the report, Children in Military Custody, published in June 2012.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The UK has made repeated representations to Israel on their treatment of Palestinian prisoners, including child detainees. Since the Foreign and Commonwealth Office-funded independent report on Children in Military Custody, there has been some limited progress. This includes a pilot to use summons instead of night-time arrests, and steps to reduce the amount of time a child can be detained before seeing a judge. My predecessor wrote to the Israeli Attorney General on 31 March to welcome the steps taken to date and to call for further measures, including the mandatory use of audio-visual recording of interrogations, investigation into continued reports of single hand ties being used, and an end to solitary confinement for children. The British Government has been working with the delegation who compiled the Children in Military Custody report to make a return visit to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories in the near future.
Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many St Helenians are in fuel poverty.
Answered by James Duddridge
The St Helena Government is reviewing how it might appropriately analyse and report fuel poverty statistics on the island, but currently it does not record this information. The FCO and DFID do not record this information.
DFID assists by contributing to efforts to alleviate the effect of the operating loss of the utilities company and to ensure that user tariffs are maintained.
Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many St Helenians have emigrated since November 2011.
Answered by James Duddridge
St Helena Government’s (SHG) Statistics Office has confirmed 148 St Helenians have emigrated since November 2011.
Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the newly elected President of the Syrian National Council.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
We are in constant contact with the Syrian opposition, including with the newly-elected President of the National Coalition, Hadi al-Bahra. We are increasing our support for them, as they counter the threats from extremists and Assad’s regime. UK Special Representative to Syria, Jon Wilks, met President al-Bahra on 10 and 15 July. In these discussions Mr Wilks stressed the UK’s strong support for the National Coalition’s goal of a transition to peaceful, democratic and inclusive Syria. I look forward to meeting and working with President al-Bahra in due course.
Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the (a) planning regulations and (b) environmental policies of the Montserrat government have been followed during the development of the new aquatic and sport centre.
Answered by Mark Simmonds
The elected Government of Montserrat has devolved constitutional responsibility for planning regulations and environmental policies. The Montserrat Ministry of Health, Education, Community Services, Sports and Youth has the responsibility for securing the relevant planning permission for the project. The Montserrat Development Corporation (MDC) have been sub-contracted to deliver the project. We understand that a planning application has been submitted and construction work will not start before this has been agreed.
Asked by: Ian C. Lucas (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he had with his Libyan counterparts about violence in Tripoli.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
Since assuming office on 15 July, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) has yet to have direct discussions with the Libyan Foreign Minister. However, through our Embassy in Tripoli, we remain in direct contact with the Libyan Government at the highest levels. We share their concern at the attacks in and around Tripoli International Airport, and condemn all actions which put lives in danger whether in the East or West of the country. We support the Libyan Government’s call for a ceasefire and urgent dialogue.