Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much her Department spent on hospitality in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022.
Answered by Vicky Ford
FCDO spend on hospitality globally is as follows:
Financial Year (FY) 2019/2020 | FY 2020/2021 | FY 2021/2022 | FY 2022/2023 thus far (as of 6 July 2022) | |
Catering Services | £2,274,750.47 | £2,583,246.85 | £1,920,301.81 | £907,874.61 |
Business Hospitality | £9,892,328.23 | £2,245,977.25 | £5,450,119.98 | £2,553,484.84 |
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the pay ratio was between the highest paid member of staff in her Department and the lowest in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office can confirm the below pay ratios between its highest and lowest paid staff;
FCDO Pay Ratio between highest and lowest paid member of staff:
2020. 9.00
2021. 9.00
2022. 8.92
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has participated in any events organised by the World Economic Forum in the last year.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Foreign Secretary has not participated in any World Economic Forum events in the past year.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps she is taking to help encourage the release of numerous political prisoners in Bahrain.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Officials and ministers regularly discuss human rights issues and individual cases with senior members of the Government of Bahrain, as well as with the independent human rights oversight bodies. The visit by Minister of State for South and Central Asia, UN and the Commonwealth, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad to Bahrain from 13-14 February was such an opportunity. We encourage those with concerns to raise them directly with the relevant oversight bodies.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether UK citizens are able to enter Spain in the event that they have received two doses of the Covishield Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured in India.
Answered by Wendy Morton
In addition to a pre-travel declaration form, the Spanish Government requires all arrivals to Spain from the UK to present on entry either documentation certifying that they have undertaken a COVID-19 nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT - e.g. PCR, TMA, LAMP or NEAR) within 72 hours prior to arrival in Spain and tested negative, or proof of being fully vaccinated at least 14 days prior to arrival in Spain with a vaccine authorised by the European Medicines Agency or by the World Health Organisation (WHO). All AstraZeneca vaccines given in the UK are the same product and appear on the UK's COVID-19 vaccination record as Vaxzevria, which has been approved by both the European Medicines Agency as well as our own medicines regulators - no batches of Covishield have been administered in the UK. Spain will accept the UK's COVID-19 vaccination record. The NHS appointment card from vaccination centres is not designed to be used as proof of vaccination and should not be used to demonstrate vaccine status.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether holidaymakers from the UK are able to enter Spain in the event that they are fully vaccinated with one of the covid-19 vaccines licensed for use in the UK.
Answered by Wendy Morton
In addition to a pre-travel declaration form, the Spanish Government requires all arrivals to Spain from the UK to present on entry either documentation certifying that they have undertaken a COVID-19 nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT - e.g. PCR, TMA, LAMP or NEAR) within 72 hours prior to arrival in Spain and tested negative, or proof of being fully vaccinated at least 14 days prior to arrival in Spain with a vaccine authorised by the European Medicines Agency or by the World Health Organisation (WHO). All AstraZeneca vaccines given in the UK are the same product and appear on the UK's COVID-19 vaccination record as Vaxzevria, which has been approved by both the European Medicines Agency as well as our own medicines regulators - no batches of Covishield have been administered in the UK. Spain will accept the UK's COVID-19 vaccination record. The NHS appointment card from vaccination centres is not designed to be used as proof of vaccination and should not be used to demonstrate vaccine status.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he has taken to increase representation within the Diplomatic Service of people from (a) minority ethnic groups and (b) working class backgrounds.
Answered by Nigel Adams
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he has taken to increase representation within the Diplomatic Service of people with a disability.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The FCDO is a Disability Confident Leader (DCL) - reflecting the DCL status of both legacy departments, FCO and DFID. This is reflected in the organisation's recruitment policies. For both external and internal appointments, an interview is guaranteed to anyone with a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the role outlined in the relevant job specification.
For the FCO (which comprises the Diplomatic Service), the most recent Annual Report provides information on:
- the representation of UK Based employees with disabilities at 31 March 2020 (11% total; 7% in the Senior Management Structure)
- how the FCO continued to increase the diversity of the workforce through targeted apprenticeship schemes, internships programmes and promoting the FCO as a great place to work at outreach events.
- disability policy and support in the organisation.
The FCDO's Disability Update: Progress against DFID's strategy for Disability Inclusive Development (November 2020) also has a section on 'living our values'. This details information that was happening across both legacy departments (FCO and DFID) and how we plan to build on this in our approach to attracting and recruiting employees with disabilities and making the most of their potential while working for FCDO.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department has made representations to the Government of Armenia on the Amulsar gold mine.
Answered by Wendy Morton
British Embassy Yerevan officials regularly make representations to the Government of Armenia on a range of issues.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, whether his Department has received representations from the Government of Armenia on the Amulsar gold mine.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Foreign & Commonwealth Office has received no representations from the Government of Armenia on the Amulsar gold mine.