Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of whether there are financial links between the far-right in the UK and similar groups in the US.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The Government is committed to tackling all forms of extremism – including Far Right extremism. The Foreign & Commonwealth Office has not however done any assessment of whether there are financial links between the Far Right in the UK and similar groups in the US. We work closely with other Government Departments to respond to evidence of international extremist influences where these are identified. As part of our regular bilateral engagement with international partners, including the United States of America, we will continue to raise our concerns, and explore opportunities to work together to address the wide spectrum of risks arising from all forms of extremism.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many staff were contracted to work at the UK Representation to the EU in Brussels in each of the last three years.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The UK Permanent Representation to the EU (UKRep) in Brussels currently employs over 150 people, comprising both permanent civil servants from multiple Government Departments and locally recruited staff. As reported in the Annual Reports published by the Department for Exiting the EU, in 2017-2018 UKRep had over 150 staff; and in 2016-2017 UKRep had over 120 staff. We keep the size and shape of UKRep under constant review to ensure it is appropriate to deliver the UK’s objectives.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department made of trends in the level of reported ethnic and linguistic tensions in Cameroon in the last three years.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
Cameroon is a highly ethnically diverse and bilingual country with over 250 ethnic groups and English and French as official languages. The violence in the Anglophone regions is not founded in ethnic roots, but generates from perceived marginalisation of the Anglophone minority. The UK is deeply concerned at the deteriorating violence, deaths and displacement of people which has increased since the end of 2016 with severe effect on civilians. We are working closely with the wider international community, including the UN, to build as full and accurate a picture as possible. The UK continues to raise our concerns with the Government of Cameroon to take urgent action to call for restraint and to end violence on all sides.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will place in the Library the assessments his Department has made of trends in the incidences of human rights abuses in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia over the last three years.
Answered by Alistair Burt
Saudi Arabia remains a Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) human rights priority country. The FCO's annual human rights reports are available on the gov.uk website. Ministers frequently discuss human rights and raise concerns with the Saudi Government at the highest levels.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of trends in the treatment of non-recognised minorities in countries in the Middle East.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Human Rights and Democracy report gives our annual assessment on the situation of human rights internationally, including in the Middle East. We are committed to ensuring the protection of human rights of all minority communities, combating religious intolerance and promoting pluralism in society. We raise these issues regularly with partner countries in the region.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of providing emergency travel documents from UK embassies in each of the last five years.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
In line with HM Treasury (HMT) guidelines, we are required to recover the full cost of providing all of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's (FCO) consular services, including the provision of Emergency Travel Documents (ETDs). Fees introduced in April 2016 took account, for the first time, of the full cost of providing consular services and forecast income over the Spending Review period. Consular services are funded through income received from the Consular premium (£14.93 on each standard passport issued) and fees charged for specific services provided to British nationals abroad (for example, the issue of ETDs) and legalisation services provided in the UK. Fees are differentiated between types of service. The fee for providing any individual service is the same throughout the overseas network.
We conduct an annual review of consular fees to ensure that the fees charged are appropriate and reflect the costs of providing consular services. The costs attributed to providing consular services fluctuate from year to year depending on the overall cost to Government of operating the overseas network and how these are shared amongst the different Government Departments and FCO services using the platform. The Consular Fees Model then further allocates costs across four categories of service (providing assistance, ETDs, notarial acts and legalisation of documents). For example, the increased cost in 2017-18 reflects changes to how the Consular Fees Model makes use of staff activity recording which should allow for more consistency in future, but does make comparison with prior years less relevant.
Year | Total Cost of Issuing ETDs |
2013-14 | £7,493,409 |
2014-15 | £5,046,453 |
2015-16 | £4,632,489 |
2016-17 | £8,257,673 |
2017-18 | £12,918,549 |
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much his Department has received in charges for providing emergency travel documents to UK citizens in each of the last five years.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
Over the last five financial years the Foreign & Commonwealth Office has received income averaging £3.2m per year from providing emergency travel documents to UK citizens. These are designed to cover the costs of providing the service. Details by financial year are as follows:
Financial Year | Income from Emergency Travel Documents |
|
|
2013-2014 | £3,283,723 |
2014-2015 | £3,613,190 |
2015-2016 | £3,098,571 |
2016-2017 | £3,082,406 |
2017-2018 | £3,019,370 |
2018-2019 (to 31/08) | £1,223,115 |
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Department is taking to encourage the US to rejoin the UN Human Rights Council.
Answered by Mark Field
The United States’ decision to withdraw from the Human Rights Council is regrettable. As the Foreign Secretary has said, Britain’s support for the Council remains steadfast. It is the best tool the international community has to address human rights violations and abuses and to advance many of our international goals. It is for the United States to decide when to seek election back onto the Council, but the UK is committed to working to strengthen the Council from within and will continue to set out the case for US engagement. We will also continue to work with the United States on a number of human rights issues outside the Council including at the UN General Assembly and Security Council.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what progress has been made on encouraging other members of the Antarctic Commission to accept an Antarctic Ocean Sanctuary in the Weddell Sea.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The UK is a proactive member of the Commission on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) and is committed to establishing a representative network of marine protected areas around Antarctica. The UK is a co-proponent of the proposal to establish a Marine Protected Area (MPA) in the Weddell Sea, which was submitted by the European Union and its Member States to the annual meeting of the CCAMLR in 2016. UK scientists continue to lead on the development of the proposal, chairing an expert workshop earlier in the year. The finalised proposal will be tabled for adoption at the next annual CCAMLR meeting in October 2018. The UK will continue to work with other CCAMLR Members to secure agreement to the Weddell Sea MPA proposal, and further MPA proposals around East Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula.
Asked by: Jo Stevens (Labour - Cardiff Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussion he has had with his Sudanese Government on the use of the death penalty in that country.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The British Ambassador to Sudan made clear our strong opposition to the use of the death penalty at a meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 15 May. On the same date, in partnership with EU members, we released a statement in which we reconfirmed our firm opposition to the death penalty, and noted our commitment to the universal abolition of this cruel and inhumane punishment, which is a serious violation of Human rights and human dignity.
The UK's Special Representative for Sudan and South Sudan most recently raised our opposition to the death penalty on 5 June when he met the Sudanese Ambassador to the UK.