Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the employment position is of non-UK national staff who were transferred from the Department for International Development to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
Answered by Nigel Adams
All former DFID staff who are non-UK nationals transferred to the FCDO in their existing roles on 2 September 2020. Further work is underway to agree a long term policy for the FCDO on reserved and unreserved roles, and impacted staff will be communicated with as soon as possible.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many fixed-term contract workers there are in his Department by (a) gender, (b) age group and (c) ethnicity.
Answered by Nigel Adams
As of the 30 June 2020, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) had the following percentages of fixed-term contract workers in the department:
Age | Percentage of Fixed Term Contract Workers |
18-29 | 70.5% |
30-39 | 17.0% |
40-49 | 7.0% |
50-59 | 4.3% |
* 60+ | - |
Ethnic minority | 29.3% |
White | 59.6% |
Do not wish to declare | 11.1% |
Home Civil Service and Diplomatic Service staff employed on a Fixed Term Contract.
*Numbers of 5 or less have been suppressed in order to comply with the GDPR.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he plans to take to ensure that staff in his Department who are non-UK nationals and transferred into his Department as a result of the machinery of Government change will have the same rights and opportunities as other staff.
Answered by Nigel Adams
Further work is underway to agree a long term policy for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) on reserved and unreserved roles. This will take account of the considerations around reserved posts as set out in the Civil Service Nationality Rules to ensure the FCDO continues to have access to world class talent and provides varied career paths whilst meeting the necessary security and nationality requirements.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many of the fixed-term contract staff in his Department have gone through (a) the deep vetting process, (b) language training and (b) other professional training; and what estimate he has made of the cost of each of those processes.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The FCDO's vetting provider, UKSV, charges £1371 for an initial DV clearance. A small number of FTC officers hold DV clearance but, for security reasons, we are not able to provide a total figure as this may make individuals identifiable.
Language and professional training information for fixed-term contract staff is not held centrally and to compile this information would incur disproportionate cost. We can however confirm that no fixed-term contract staff have received full-time language training.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the (a) gender, (b) age group and (c) ethnicity breakdown is of non-UK nationals employed in his Department.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The breakdown of FCDO's non-UK national employees, as at 31 August 2020, is set out in the tables below.
Age group | No. of Staff |
Under 35 | 61 |
35 - 44 | 63 |
45 - 54 | 23 |
55+ | 8 |
Total | 155 |
Ethnicity | No. of Staff |
BAME | 20 |
Not declared/ Prefer not to say | 64 |
White | 71 |
Total | 155 |
Gender | No. of Staff |
Female | 102 |
Male | 53 |
Total | 155 |
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many full-time equivalent staff in his Department are employed on a fixed-term contract.
Answered by Nigel Adams
As of 1 September 2020, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office had between 340 and 359 full-time equivalent Home Civil Service & Diplomatic Service staff employed on a Fixed Term Contract.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether an equality impact assessment has been undertaken on the decision to withdraw the opportunity of permanent jobs for fixed-term contact staff in his Department.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The potential diversity impact of the decision not to offer opportunities for permanent employment to current fixed-term contract staff was discussed at length by the Joint Executive Committee of DFID and FCO. As such, the Public Sector Equality Duty was met.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent representations his Department has made to the Chinese authorities on reports of the mass sterilisation of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nigel Adams
As I set out during an Urgent Question in the House of Commons on 29 June, we are seriously concerned about the human rights situation in Xinjiang. We are aware of reports of forced sterilisation of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang, which would amount to a gross violation of human rights. We are closely monitoring all available evidence, and have raised the issue with Chinese officials. On 28 July, the Foreign Secretary expressed his serious concerns about the human rights situation in Xinjiang to his Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister and State Councillor Wang Yi.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer on 15 May to Question 43779 on Civil Servants, in how many multi-hub locations employees of his Department are working together with employees of another Department or agency in London managed by the Government Property Agency; what the addresses are of those locations; and what other Departments and agencies employ staff at those locations.
Answered by Nigel Adams
I refer the Hon. Member to the Answer given to PQ 54314 on 12 June 2020.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in Yemen on expediting the release of Hamed bin Haydara from prison following his pardon granted on 25 March 2020.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
We are monitoring the case of Hamed bin Haydara closely. On 25 March the Houthis announced that they would release Mr Haydara and his fellow wrongfully detained Baha'i, but we have seen no further action since then. I made public my concerns on 22 April, urging the Houthis to release all political prisoners without delay. We strongly condemn the death sentence and the continued persecution of the Baha'i in Yemen for their religious beliefs. We meet often with the Baha'i representatives in London who keep us updated on the situation.