Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Rawmarsh and Conisbrough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 27 June 2022 to Question 23221, how many meetings of the National Security Council she has attended since April 2022.
Answered by Amanda Milling
The National Security Council is a committee of the Cabinet. It is a long-established precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place in Cabinet and its Committees, and how often they have met, is not normally shared publicly.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Rawmarsh and Conisbrough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many meetings of the National Security Council she has attended since April 2022.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
The National Security Council is a committee of the Cabinet. It is a long-established precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place in Cabinet and its Committees, and how often they have met, is not normally shared publicly.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Rawmarsh and Conisbrough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she plans to lay the security and defence agreements signed between the UK, Sweden and Finland before Parliament under the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
The Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 makes provision for treaties subject to ratification first to be laid before Parliament. The Act's definition of a treaty does not capture arrangements which are not legally binding under international law.
The joint statements made between the UK and Finland and the UK and Sweden on 11 May both note that they are political declarations and are not legally binding obligations under international law. The statements in their entirety were published on gov.uk immediately after their signature. These are available at: https://www.gov.uk/international/foreign-affairs#policy_and_engagement
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Rawmarsh and Conisbrough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many UK personnel have worked at the National Cyber Security Centre in each year since 2015.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
We do not provide exact figures on the number of personnel working at NCSC for reasons of national security.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Rawmarsh and Conisbrough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many British employees are funded by the UK’s funding to the OSCE’s special monitoring mission in Ukraine.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The UK provides the third largest number of secondees to the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission. The specific figure, which currently stands at around 50, changes regularly subject to Mission needs and the availability of UK candidates.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Rawmarsh and Conisbrough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much annual funding does the Government provide to the OSCE’s special monitoring mission in Ukraine.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
Information on the UK's financial contribution to OSCE Field Missions can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/conflict-stability-and-security-fund-annual-report-2020-to-2021/conflict-stability-and-security-fund-annual-report-2020-to-2021#annex-b-cssf-non-discretionary-spend-breakdown
Information on the budget of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission can be found here: https://www.osce.org/files/f/documents/0/0/484139.pdf
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Rawmarsh and Conisbrough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment the Government has made of the potential effect on the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine of the OSCE’s special monitoring mission's budget not being renewed beyond March 2022.
Answered by Chris Heaton-Harris
The UK is resolute in our support to the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM). With partners, we will call on all OSCE participating States to ensure a timely adoption of the budget for 2022/23 and continue to support efforts to ensure the SMM is able to fully implement its mandate.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Rawmarsh and Conisbrough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 14 December 2021 to Question 90329 on Nuclear Weapons: Proliferation, which recommendations in the Stockholm Initiative for Nuclear Disarmament her Department does not support.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
The UK supports the Stockholm Initiative for Nuclear Disarmament and agrees with the principles behind its recommendations. The UK has made significant progress in fulfilling certain recommendations including in reducing our nuclear arsenal to the minimum credible level and reducing the role of nuclear weapons in our security policies. However, the Integrated Review set out the current deteriorating strategic security environment which limits further unilateral action from the UK at this time. In this context, the UK cannot further reduce our arsenal or the role our nuclear weapons play in our policies and doctrine, nor can we tighten our negative security assurances. Our NPT national report highlights the UK's continued commitment to the long-term goal of a world without nuclear weapons and our work to facilitate progress towards nuclear disarmament.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Rawmarsh and Conisbrough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many UK officials will be attending the 2022 Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
The UK's delegation at the 2022 Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons will be led by the UK's Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament. Delegations this year will be limited in number because of restrictions related to the Covid pandemic.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Rawmarsh and Conisbrough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that Afghans who are (a) not eligible under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy and (b) at risk of harm from the Taliban in Afghanistan are given assistance before the Afghan Citizens' Resettlement Scheme opens.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
We have committed to provide £286 million in humanitarian and development support and continue to explore the best ways to provide support to the Afghan people. The Prime Minister's Special Representative for the Afghan Transition, Sir Simon Gass, and Chargé d'Affaires of the UK Mission to Afghanistan in Doha, Dr Martin Longden, travelled to Afghanistan on 5 October to hold talks with the Taliban. Sir Simon and Dr Longden stressed the need to ensure continued safe passage for those who wish to leave the country and respect human rights, including the rights of minorities and women and girls.
During Op PITTING we were able to get approval for evacuation of a number of Afghan nationals, to whom the Home Secretary agreed to grant Leave Outside the Rules to enter the UK, in addition to the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy contingent and British nationals. These people were identified as being particularly at risk and not all were able to leave before the end of the Operation. Providing assistance to those individuals eligible for HMG support remains our priority.