Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of whether the 2010 arrest and 2012 detention of Victoire Ingabire in Rwanda was arbitrary.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We are aware of the case of Victoire Ingabire and note issues around due process in her arrest and detention. The British High Commission in Kigali regularly raises issues of political space and human rights with Rwandan Government. Most recently, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon discussed these issues with Minister of State Manasseh during his visit to Kigali in October.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department plans to engage with the Minister of National Security in Israel.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The FCDO has no plans to engage with the Israeli Minister of National Security.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with (a) his Turkish counterpart and (b) the United Nations to help ensure humanitarian access to people affected by the earthquake.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The Prime Minister spoke to President Erdogan on 7 February, noting the humanitarian situation over the border in north west Syria, where Turkey plays an important coordinating role. The Foreign Secretary has also engaged with his Turkish counterpart on maximising the efficiency of aid deliveries across the Syrian border.
Minister Mitchell spoke to Martin Griffiths (Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator at the United Nations) on 16 February and Lord Ahmad spoke to Muhannad Hadi (UN Regional Humanitarian Coordinator) on 8 February to discuss the importance of securing sufficient access from Turkey into north west Syria and we welcomed the UN-brokered agreement to open additional border crossings into north west Syria.
Minister Mitchell also visited Turkey on 19 February to see the response first-hand and met with UN agencies, the Disasters Emergency Committee, Care International and the White Helmets. On Friday 24 February, I spoke to Ibrahim Kalin (spokesperson and chief adviser to the Turkish President) about the earthquakes and UK support.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help protect children in Turkey and Syria following the earthquake.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK responded immediately to provide life-saving support to people in Turkey and Syria. On 15 February the UK committed a package of support to address the urgent humanitarian needs including £25 million in new overseas aid to fund emergency relief. The UK has committed £5 million match funding to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) appeal to support British aid organisations. DEC Members such as Save the Children have supported children in Turkey and Syria in many ways such as providing psychosocial support for children experiencing trauma, reuniting children with families where possible and creating safe spaces for women and children.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the long term effect of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria on the economy of that region; and what steps his Department is taking to help support that economy.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK responded immediately to provide life-saving support to the people of Turkey and Syria.
As we move out of the emergency response phase, the UK will continue to stand in solidarity with Turkey and Syria and continue to look at what more we can do to support the recovery effort.
In Syria, the additional support the UK is providing will supplement our existing support. Since 2012, the UK has provided over £3.8 billion to the regional Syria Crisis, our largest response to a single humanitarian crisis. Our response to the earthquake in Syria will continue to focus on providing urgent life-saving and life-sustaining assistance to those in need.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Egyptian Government on the release of British national Alaa Abd el-Fattah.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government makes regular representations about Mr Alaa Abd El Fattah's imprisonment, welfare and lack of consular access, and will continue to do so until his case is resolved. The Foreign Secretary has raised the case with Egyptian Foreign Minister Shoukry on several occasions. The Prime Minister raised consular access with President Sisi on 7 November and the Minister for the Middle East and North Africa has also raised Mr El-Fattah's case on a number of occasions, most recently on 5 December with the Egyptian Ambassador. The British Embassy Cairo also raise his case regularly with the Egyptian authorities.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many (a) non-disclosure and (b) other confidentiality agreements relating to (i) employment, (ii) bullying, (iii) misconduct and (iii) harassment cases have been agreed by their Department in each year since 1 January 2010; and how much money from the public purse has been spent on (A) legal costs and (B) financial settlements for such agreements in each year since 1 January 2010.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The numbers for non-disclosure and other confidentiality agreements are set out in the table below for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development up until the departments merged in September 2020, and for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office since then.
In 2010 and 2011 it was standard practice in DFID to arrange for compromise agreements to be put in place for staff who, by agreement, left the organisation under the Civil Service Compensation Scheme. These agreements included a confidentiality clause as a matter of course.
Year | FCO (until 1 September 2020) | DFID (until 1 September 2020) | FCDO (from 2 September 2020) |
2010 | Not held | 11 | |
2011 | Not held | 7 | |
2012 | Not held | Fewer than five | |
2013 | None | Fewer than five | |
2014 | None | None | |
2015 | None | None | |
2016 | None | None | |
2017 | None | None | |
2018 | None | None | |
2019 | None | None | |
2020 | None | None | Fewer than five * |
2021 | None | ||
2022 | None |
*No financial settlements were involved. It is not possible to identify the proportion of legal costs which related to non-disclosure.
The FCDO follows Government policy which, since 2015 has been clear that confidentiality clauses should not be used to prevent staff from raising or discussing allegations of bullying, harassment and discrimination.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many complaints by UK-based civil servants of (a) bullying and (b) harassment were recorded in his Department in each year since 2019.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Year | Bullying | Harassment (including sexual harassment) |
2019 | 11 | 9 |
2020 | 10 | 6 |
2021 | 8 | 5 |
2022 | 5 | 3 |
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when the cost of assisting refugees within the UK is removed, what proportion of the UK's Gross National Income is spent on Official Development Assistance.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The latest data available is the provisional data for 2021 UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) (see table 1). Final figures for 2021 UK ODA spend will be published on 23rd November 2022. Provisional and final official UK ODA spend data for 2022 will be published as normal in the Spring and Autumn of 2023 respectively.
Table 1. UK (Gross National Income) GNI estimates, UK Net ODA and ODA: GNI ratios including and excluding refugees in donor countries; 2021
UK GNI £million | Total UK ODA £million | Refugees in Donor Countries (IDRC) £million | ODA/GNI % | ODA/GNI excl. IDRC % |
| 2,305,142 | 11,496 | 898 | 0.50 | 0.46 |
Source:
Statistics on International Development, Provisional UK Aid Spend 2021
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistics-on-international-development-provisional-uk-aid-spend-2021
OECD DAC: ODA Levels in 2021- Preliminary data
https://www.oecd.org/dac/financing-sustainable-development/development-finance-standards/ODA-2021-summary.pdf
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with LGBT activists and organisations from the (a) Cayman Islands and (b) Bermuda where the right to marriage for same-sex couples is refused by their respective Governments.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The inhabited British Overseas Territories are separate, largely self-governing jurisdictions with their own democratically elected representatives. The relationship with the Overseas Territories is based on partnership. Policy on marriage law is an area of devolved responsibility.
The majority of Overseas Territories have legal recognition and protection for same sex relationships, either through marriage or through civil partnerships as is the case in Bermuda. In 2020 the Governor of the Cayman Islands enacted civil partnership legislation to recognise same-sex partnerships in order to comply with the Cayman Islands Court of Appeal. The UK Government continues to engage with and encourage remaining Territories that have not put in place arrangements to recognise and protect same sex relationships, to do so.
The UK Government remains open to further engagement with LGBT+ activists and organisations across the Overseas Territories to support increased recognition and protections for same-sex relationships in the Overseas Territories.