Asked by: Keith Vaz (Labour - Leicester East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Prime Minister's statement of 24 July 2019, if her Department will estimate the number of new police officer posts that will be established by Leicestershire Police by 2022.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Prime Minister and Home Secretary have announced the recruitment of 20,000 extra officers over the next three years. This demonstrates our commitment to support the police and give them extra resource to protect the public and keep us all safe.
The allocation of officers across England and Wales is yet to be confirmed. We are working closely with police leaders to put in place the plans and systems to deliver on our commitment. Police budgets and force level funding will be set out in the usual way at the provisional police settlement.
On 31 March 2019, Leicester police force had 1,829 police officers, and increase of 2.9% from March 2018.
Asked by: Keith Vaz (Labour - Leicester East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Prime Minister's statement of 24 July 2019, how many of the vacancies for additional police officers to be recruited by 2022 had been advertised before 23 July 2019.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Government has committed to increasing the number of police officers by 20,000 over the next three years. We are committed to giving police the re-sources, tools and powers they need to tackle the scourge of crime.
The Home Office does not hold figures for the number of police officer vacancies advertised prior to 23 July 2019.
Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) had previously announced plans to recruit 3000 additional officers in 2019/20. The recruitment of 20,000 offic-ers announced by the Government is in addition to these numbers already announced by PCCs.
Asked by: Keith Vaz (Labour - Leicester East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many retired police officers have been engaged by police services in a consulting role in each year since 2016.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
The Home Office does not centrally hold the information requested
Decisions on the size and composition of the police workforce are operational matters for Chief Officers working with their Police and Crime Commissioners and taking into account local priorities.
Asked by: Keith Vaz (Labour - Leicester East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has held with his counterparts in (a) the Government of Saudi Arabia and (b) the Government of Yemen on (i) opening Sana’a International airport, (ii) implementing a UN Verification and Inspection Mechanism to facilitate traffic through the airport and (iii) facilitating direct international flights for aid workers, journalists, humanitarian aid and seriously ill people.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Improving humanitarian and commercial access in Yemen is one of the UK’s top priorities. The UK is actively raising humanitarian concerns with all parties, calling on them to comply with UN Security Council Resolution 2451 and facilitate safe, rapid, and unhindered access for humanitarian and commercial supplies, including through Aden Port and airports. The UK continues to encourage vital access for food, fuel, and medicine by providing £1.3 million to help the UN’s Verification and Inspection Mechanism to facilitate commercial imports into Hodeidah and Saleef ports by giving the Coalition confidence that weapons are not coming in on commercial ships.
Asked by: Keith Vaz (Labour - Leicester East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to open direct talks with the Houthi leadership in Sana’a to find a solution to the conflict in Yemen; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
We consistently urge all parties, including the Houthis, to engage constructively with the UN Special Envoy. A nationwide ceasefire will only have an effect on the ground if it is underpinned by a political deal between the conflict parties. A political solution is the only way to bring long-term stability to Yemen and to address the worsening humanitarian crisis. The Yemeni parties must engage constructively and in good faith with the UN Special Envoy to overcome obstacles to progress and find a political settlement to end the conflict.
Asked by: Keith Vaz (Labour - Leicester East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has held with his Saudi Arabian and Government of Yemen counterparts on holding direct talks with the Houthi leadership to broker a nationwide ceasefire; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
We consistently urge all parties, including the Houthis, to engage constructively with the UN Special Envoy. A nationwide ceasefire will only have an effect on the ground if it is underpinned by a political deal between the conflict parties. A political solution is the only way to bring long-term stability to Yemen and to address the worsening humanitarian crisis. The Yemeni parties must engage constructively and in good faith with the UN Special Envoy to overcome obstacles to progress and find a political settlement to end the conflict.
Asked by: Keith Vaz (Labour - Leicester East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has held with his (a) Saudi Arabian, (b) Emirati and (c) Government of Yemen counterparts to facilitate access for the UN Humans Rights Council Panel of Eminent Experts to all regions of Yemen including Sana’a.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The UK supports the UN Group of Eminent Experts (GEE) and we welcome the renewal of its mandate. It is important to give the Group more time to fully examine the conflict and to ensure that their conclusions accurately reflect the conduct of all parties. The UK urges all parties to the conflict to cooperate with the GEE and to promote and protect human rights in Yemen. We are disappointed that the Group has not had the necessary access to the conflict zone, or been able to visit many of the countries that are engaged in the conflict. We encourage engagement with the Group as a means of ensuring that their conclusions are as well informed as possible, and that they reflect the views of all.
Asked by: Keith Vaz (Labour - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate he has made of the operability of urban water and sanitation plants by each governorate in Yemen.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
According to the UN’s 2019 Humanitarian Needs Overview, only 22 per cent of rural and 46 per cent of urban populations are connected to partially functioning public water networks, and trucked water is mostly unregulated and expensive.
Where functioning public water and sanitation systems exist, coverage remains poor, with a majority of governorates and districts reportedly showing coverage below 60% of the populations they serve.
The international humanitarian response, including funding from the UK, ensures that sustained water delivery reaches an average of approximately 3.5 million people per month whilst sustained sanitation delivery reaches an average of approximately 1.7 million people per month.
Asked by: Keith Vaz (Labour - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate he has made of the proportion of Yemeni Government workers by each Governorate in receipt of salary payments; and what the regularity of those payments is.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The UK does not collect comprehensive information on the number of Government of Yemen workers receiving salary payments.
However, we welcome reports of the Government of Yemen making recent progress towards paying public-sector salaries across more of the country, including in Hodeidah governorate and other Houthi-controlled areas.
The UK continues to encourage the Government of Yemen to resume the full and regular payment of public-sector salaries in all areas of the country.
Asked by: Keith Vaz (Labour - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate he has made of the (a) monetary value and (b) tonnage of commercial imports of (i) food, (ii) fuel, (iii) medical supplies and (iv) essential materials awaiting transshipment using letters of credit issued by the Government of Yemen.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
As of 29 September, according to data from the UN Verification Inspection Mechanism (UNVIM), ten vessels carrying cargos of fuel were awaiting to berth at Hodeidah port.
These vessels were carrying a total estimated volume of over 212,000 Metric Tonnes of fuel – the equivalent of approximately a month’s average fuel imports through Hodeidah port. We cannot estimate the value of this fuel as the overall value depends on the individual commercial arrangements made in each case.
As of 29 September, no issues were reported by UNVIM on vessels carrying food, medical supplies and other cargo.