Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the candidacy of Emirati Major General Nasser Ahmed al-Raisi for the Interpol presidency, to be elected on 23-25 November 2021, in the context of the UAE’s human rights record.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
As with all elections for international organisations, the UK Government will review all candidates for the presidency of Interpol, and consider our vote carefully. We are committed to the promotion of universal freedoms and human rights and we encourage all states, including the United Arab Emirates, to uphold international human rights obligations.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
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 his Emirati counterpart on (a) the health of Mohammed al-Roken in response to the covid-19 pandemic and (b) his unconditional release upon completion of his full sentence on 17 July 2022.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
We are aware of reports concerning the detention of Mohammed al-Roken. The UK urges all countries to comply with their human rights obligations. Our close relationship with the United Arab Emirates allows us to discuss important issues such as human rights. We consistently underline the importance of political freedoms globally. This includes respect for the right to peaceful protest, the rule of law, and freedom of speech, the press, and assembly. Where the UK has cause for concern, we raise these concerns at official and Ministerial level.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many consultants his Department has hired since 2016; and at what cost to the taxpayer.
Answered by Alan Duncan
Details of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's (FCO) spend on Consultancy for each financial year is published in the FCO Annual Report and Accounts, which can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications.
As Consultancy is procured as an output-based service, and not in terms of individual consultants, we do not centrally hold the number of consultants hired.
Where the FCO has a business need for Consultancy, which cannot be met with in-house resources, these services are procured in line with FCO procurement practices, and Cabinet Office guidance.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many consultations by his Department (a) are open, (b) are closed awaiting a Government response and (c) have been initiated since 2016.
Answered by Alan Duncan
All public government consultations are uploaded onto GOV.UK where they can be filtered by department, status and date. The Foreign Office has published four documents since 2016. For all of these the consultation processes have been concluded. These were: (a) Public consultation on the United Kingdom's future legal framework for imposing and implementing sanctions (2 August 2017) (published jointly with HMT and DIT); (b) Consultation on the UK's Foreign Travel Advice service (25 April 2017); (c) Defence and security innovation: proposed accelerator (11 August 2016) (published jointly with DfT, Home Office, MOD, Dstl, CDE and BEIS); and (d) BIOT Resettlement Policy Review consultation (21 January 2016). There are no consultations pending.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much money his Department has raised from the sale of (a) assets, (b) land and (c) buildings in each year since 2010.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The table below shows the proceeds from the sale of Foreign and Commonwealth Office's (FCO) assets
| Other assets | Land & Buildings |
2009/10 | 832,494 | 9,266,174 |
2010/11 | 746,784 | 19,470,110 |
2011/12 | 1,209,251 | 26,260,902 |
2012/13 | 1,399,572 | 78,861,263 |
2013/14 | 897,953 | 38,689,848 |
2014/15 | 891,265 | 3,028,819 |
2015/16 | 766,990 | 19,986,330 |
2016/17 | 1,004,035 | 56,184,837 |
The FCO does not separate value when land and buildings are sold together. The table above covers assets (mainly vehicles), land and buildings. The FCO manages its property portfolio in line with its business needs, including investment in new properties and disposal of those no longer required. Capital disposal receipts are retained for further investment by the FCO as agreed with Her Majesty's Treasury. Full details can be found in the FCO's published annual report and accounts on the gov.uk website.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the Written Statement of 13 March 2018, Spring Statement, HCWS 540, if he will publish a list of where the £29.6 million allocated to his Department to realise the opportunities from EU exit will be spent.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has been allocated £29.6m for essential EU exit preparations in 2018-19. This will allow us to strengthen our diplomatic network so it is better able to engage with our European partners in support of a successful EU Exit. We will also strengthen our bilateral relationships as we prepare to leave the EU, and will increase our staffing in London to work on a range of related issues. As with all Reserve funding, finalised allocations will be confirmed at Supplementary Estimates 2018-19 in early 2019.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many UK-based staff of his Department there were in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012, (d) 2013, (e) 2014, (f) 2015, (g) 2016 and (h) 2017.
Answered by Alan Duncan
On 31 March of each year listed, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) had the following numbers of UK-based staff:
2010: 4990
2011: 4786
2012: 4576
2013: 4836
2014: 4609
2015: 4469
2016: 4295
2017: 4499
Up until 31 March 2016 our staff numbers included staff working for UK Trade and Investment (now Department for International Trade). The 31 March 2017 figures include 223 staff working in roles funded by cross-Whitehall programmes.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate his Department made prior to the EU referendum being held of the administrative and travel costs of renegotiating the UK's membership with the EU.
Answered by Alan Duncan
We do not hold central records of this data.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what progress has been made on tackling Daesh in Libya.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
On 15th December 2016, I welcomed the news that Libyan forces aligned to the Government of National Accord (GNA) defeated Daesh forces in Sirte – Daesh’s most important base outside Syria and Iraq. Although the situation remains fragile, we continue to work with the GNA to help them tackle the threat posed by extremist groups.