Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what plans his Department has to mark International Men's Day on 19 November 2019.
Answered by Heather Wheeler
No one should suffer unfair treatment because of their gender. Every year International Men's Day offers an opportunity to highlight how outcomes for men and boys can be improved and to talk about some of the important work going on every day across Government to do this.
The work ranges from the introduction of shared parental leave, which allows men to take time away from the workplace and bond with their new children, benefitting that crucial long-term relationship for both parent and child, to our programme tackling LGBT bullying in schools which seeks to protect those who may be victimised by outdated and stereotypical ideas of what it means to be a 'real man'.
Government is also working with local authorities to ensure their suicide prevention plans support more men, and in the Domestic Abuse Bill we propose to create a statutory definition of domestic abuse that makes clear men also can be victims of this abhorrent crime.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much his Department has spent on purchasing (a) national newspapers and (b) newspaper online subscriptions since 2016; and how many copies of each national newspaper were purchased in that time period.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office spent a total of £725,286 on newspapers supplied centrally in financial years 2016-17 to 2018-2019 for FCO staff in the United Kingdom and its diplomatic missions overseas. £617,911 of this was spent on online/electronic newspaper subscriptions which are made available digitally to all staff and £29,658 on print copies for use by its departments in London. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office purchases these through pan-government frameworks and contracts and encourages staff to use newspapers digitally wherever possible in order to ensure efficiency savings. The remaining amount of £77,717 was spent locally by overseas diplomatic missions over the three financial years.
| FY 16-17 | FY 17-18 | FY 18-19 |
Total FCO spend on newspapers | £270,820 | £312,394 | £142,072* |
| FY 16-17 | FY 17-18 | FY 18-19 |
Spend on online/electronic newspaper subscriptions provided centrally for access by all FCO staff | £232,527 | £285,118 | £100,266* |
Spend locally by overseas diplomatic missions | £29,813 | £17,213 | £30,693 |
* In this financial year the FCO made adjustments to record spending on annual subscriptions according to the proportion actually spent within the same financial year. In many cases that total spend is now spread over more than one financial year.
Titles and number of daily copies of print national newspapers delivered under contract to FCO London
Newspaper title** | FY 16-17 | FY 17-18 | FY 18-19 |
Daily Express | 3 copies | 2 copies | 1 copy |
Daily Express Sat | 3 copies | 2 copies | 1 copy |
Daily Mail | 4 copies | 5 copies | 8 copies |
Daily Mail Sat | 3 copies | 2 copies | 1 copy |
Daily Mirror | 3 copies | 3 copies | 2 copies |
Daily Mirror Sat | 3 copies | 3 copies | 2 copies |
Daily Telegraph | 9 copies | 12 copies | 10 copies |
Daily Telegraph Sat | 2 copies | 3 copies | 2 copies |
Financial Times | 4 copies | 5 copies | 3 copies |
Financial Times Sat | 3 copies | 3 copies | 2 copies |
Guardian | 7 copies | 6 copies | 10 copies |
Guardian Sat | 3 copies | 2 copies | 2 copies |
i-Newspaper | 3 copies | 3 copies | 2 copies |
Mail on Sunday | 3 copies | 3 copies | 1 copy |
Observer | 3 copies | 2 copies | 2 copies |
Sun | 6 copies | 5 copies | 6 copies |
Sun Sat | 2 copies | 2 copies | 2 copies |
Sunday Express | 2 copies | 2 copies | 2 copies |
Sunday Mirror | 2 copies | 3 copies | 2 copies |
Sunday People | 2 copies | 3 copies | 2 copies |
Sunday Telegraph | 2 copies | 2 copies | 2 copies |
Sunday Times | 3 copies | 5 copies | 2 copies |
Sun on Sunday | 2 copies | 3 copies | 2 copies |
Times | 13 copies | 16 copies | 24 copies |
Times Sat | 3 copies | 5 copies | 4 copies |
**Non-UK national newspaper titles to the value of £28 over the three financial years above have been omitted
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 25 October 2018 to Question 181215 on South Africa: British Nationals Abroad, what steps are being taken to identify UK expatriates living in South Africa who will be affected by the motion to confiscate land without compensation.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
I refer to my previous answer of 25 October. It is not possible to make a meaningful assessment of the impact of a future land reform programme, including on UK nationals living in South Africa, until that programme has been formulated and set out by the South African Government.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of UK expatriates living in South Africa that will be affected by the motion passed in the Parliament of South Africa on 1 March 2018 to confiscate land without compensation from white farmers.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The motion passed by the South African Parliament on 27 February 2018 committed to ‘make use of all mechanisms at the disposal of the state’ in pursuing a land reform programme, and tasked a committee with reviewing whether the Constitution needed to be amended for the State to expropriate land without compensation. It is not possible to make an assessment of the impact of a future land reform programme until it has been formulated, however, President Ramaphosa has provided clear examples of when a policy of expropriation could be used. These include: unused land, derelict buildings, purely speculative land holdings, or circumstances where occupiers have strong historical rights and title holders do not occupy or use their land, such as labour tenancy, informal settlements and abandoned inner-city buildings.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the main policy priority is for his Department for 2018; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office published an updated Single Departmental Plan on 23 May 2018. This set out the Department's main policy objectives and how it will achieve them. Single Departmental Plans will be revised annually to reflect new priorities or changes in responsibilities.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 30 May 2018 to Question 146171 on procurement, what the daily rate of pay is of each of those contractors who have been employed by his Department for five years or more.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The FCO has employed six contractors for five years or more. Some are paid hourly rates and not daily rates. On the basis that 7.5 hours is a work day, the daily rates for the six contractors range from £94.42 per day up to £353 per day.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many contractors currently employed by his Department are paid £1,000 or more per day.
Answered by Alan Duncan
As of 31 May 2018 the Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not employ any contractors on £1,000 or more per day.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many contractors have been employed by his Department for (a) up to one year, (b) between one and five years, (c) between five and 10 years and (d) over 10 years.
Answered by Alan Duncan
As of 23 May 2018 the Foreign and Commonwealth Office employs a total of 71 contractors. The breakdown is :
a) Up to one year = 38
b) Between 1 – 5 years = 27
c) Between 5 – 10 years = 6
d) Over 10 years = 0
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the job titles are of civil servants in his Department who have been provided with (a) an official car and (b) a driver.
Answered by Mark Field
No civil servant in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has been allocated an official car or a driver.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which regulations his Department (a) has introduced as a result of EU legislation from 23 June 2016 to date and (b) expects to implement as a result of EU legislation in (i) 2018 and (ii) 2019; and what estimate he has made of the cost of each such regulation to the (A) public purse and (B) private sector.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has not introduced any regulations as a result of EU legislation since 23 June 2016 and we do not expect to introduce any regulations as a result of EU legislation in 2018.
In 2019, we also do not expect to introduce any regulations as a result of EU legislation. However, the exact number is subject to ongoing negotiations.
All regulations implementing EU legislation that have been introduced since 2013 and impact assessments, where available, can be found on www.legislation.gov.uk