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 he has made of the implications of the takeover of Kabul by the Taliban for the security of the UK and its allies.
Answered by Nigel Adams
One of our key objectives is to stop Afghanistan from again becoming a base for terrorist attacks around the world, to reduce the threat to the UK and the international community. We will work with our allies and use all the levers at our disposal to achieve this.
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 Office, what steps he has taken to further the development of international (a) norms, (b) rules and (c) principles on responsible behaviours in space in each of the last six months.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
In December 2020, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a UK-led resolution on "Reducing Space Threat through norms, rules and principles of responsible behaviour". The resolution called for States to study space threats and contribute their ideas to the United Nations Secretary-General by 3 May 2021. The United Kingdom submitted its views which can be found on the website of the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, https://www.un.org/disarmament/topics/outerspace-sg-report-outer-space-2021/.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Rawmarsh and Conisbrough)
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 government of Pakistan on protection of Christians in that country.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
We remain deeply concerned by the persecution of Christians and other religious minorities in Pakistan. We continue to raise our human rights concerns with the Pakistan authorities at the highest level.
I raised this issue with the Pakistani High Commissioner on 28 October, and with the Chief Minister of the Punjab, Mr Shanbaz Sharif, on 26 November.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Rawmarsh and Conisbrough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many officials in his Department of each (a) gender, (b) ethnicity and (c) age received the Civil Service Employment Policy Performance Management System's (i) exceeded, (ii) met and (iii) must improve performance mark in 2013-14.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The new Civil Service Employee Policy Performance Management system applies to UK-based staff in the delegated grades (Band A (AA-AO) to Band D (G6/7). Senior Civil Servants (SCS) follow Cabinet Office guidance on performance management. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) adopted the new Performance Management System in April 2013. The Department operates a split appraisal cycle with Bands C (HEO/SEO) and D using the financial year and Bands A and B (AA/AO/EO) using the calendar year. Bands C and D used the new policy for appraisal year 2013/2014, with Band D appraisals being subject to performance validation. Bands A and B only started to use the new system from 1 January 2014 and will complete their cycle in December. The FCO uses the third box marking of “Partially Met” rather than “Must Improve”. We also have a guided distribution in place across the ratings as follows: Exceeded – 25% Met – 60% Partially Met – 15% The FCO takes seriously its obligations to collect diversity data as required by the Equality Act 2010. Information about the diversity and makeup of our staff is listed in the FCO's Diversity and Equality Report. We will complete an analysis of the appraisal and performance related pay (PRP) data for diversity purposes early in 2015 once all staff have completed one full year on the new system.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Rawmarsh and Conisbrough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many officials in his Department completed the Civil Service Employment Policy Performance Management System in 2013-14; how many and what proportion of those officials received the (a) exceeded, (b) met and (c) must improve performance mark; and how many and what proportion (i) did and (ii) did not qualify for a bonus under that process.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The new Civil Service Employee Policy Performance Management system applies to UK-based staff in the delegated grades (Band A (AA-AO) to Band D (G6/7). Senior Civil Servants (SCS) follow Cabinet Office guidance on performance management.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) adopted the new Performance Management System in April 2013. The Department operates a split appraisal cycle with Bands C (HEO/SEO) and D using the financial year and Bands A and B (AA/AO/EO) using the calendar year. Bands C and D used the new policy for appraisal year 2013/2014, with Band D appraisals being subject to performance validation. Bands A and B only started to use the new system from 1 January 2014 and will complete their cycle in December. The FCO uses the third box marking of “Partially Met” rather than “Must Improve”. We also have a guided distribution in place across the ratings as follows:
Exceeded – 25%
Met – 60%
Partially Met – 15%
The FCO takes seriously its obligations to collect diversity data as required by the Equality Act 2010. Information about the diversity and makeup of our staff is listed in the FCO's Diversity and Equality Report. We will complete an analysis of the appraisal and performance related pay (PRP) data for diversity purposes early in 2015 once all staff have completed one full year on the new system.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Rawmarsh and Conisbrough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many officials in his Department who received the (a) exceeded, (b) met and (c) must improve performance mark under the Civil Service Employment Policy Performance Management System (i) had a disability, (ii) worked full-time and (iii) worked part-time in 2013-14.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The new Civil Service Employee Policy Performance Management system applies to UK-based staff in the delegated grades (Band A (AA-AO) to Band D (G6/7). Senior Civil Servants (SCS) follow Cabinet Office guidance on performance management. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) adopted the new Performance Management System in April 2013. The Department operates a split appraisal cycle with Bands C (HEO/SEO) and D using the financial year and Bands A and B (AA/AO/EO) using the calendar year. Bands C and D used the new policy for appraisal year 2013/2014, with Band D appraisals being subject to performance validation. Bands A and B only started to use the new system from 1 January 2014 and will complete their cycle in December. The FCO uses the third box marking of “Partially Met” rather than “Must Improve”. We also have a guided distribution in place across the ratings as follows: Exceeded – 25% Met – 60% Partially Met – 15% The FCO takes seriously its obligations to collect diversity data as required by the Equality Act 2010. Information about the diversity and makeup of our staff is listed in the FCO's Diversity and Equality Report. We will complete an analysis of the appraisal and performance related pay (PRP) data for diversity purposes early in 2015 once all staff have completed one full year on the new system.