Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2024 to Question 15510 on Ghana: Treaties, whether his Department holds any record (a) of a treaty ceding Akwamu to the Gold Coast Colony signed in 1886 and (b) the ratification of any such treaty.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds
UK Treaties Online (UKTO) provides a record of treaties, with links to texts of command papers published in the UK Treaty Series from 1892. We do not hold any UKTO record of the treaty referred to in this question or Question 15510 on Ghana:Treaties. However, information relating to treaties, including historic treaties for which there is no UKTO record, may be held by The National Archives (TNA), as in this case. Since the Answer of 3 December 2024, we have been provided with a copy of relevant information held by TNA in the context of a Freedom of Information request. Based on this information, we have carried out further research and identified a brief excerpt of a treaty concluded in 1886 "between the Governor of the Gold Coast and the King and people of Aquamoo" in The Map of Africa by Treaty (3rd ed.), printed by His Majesty's Stationery Office in 1909. Neither TNA information nor the book excerpt contains any information about ratification.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what records his Department holds on whether the Protectorate Treaty ceding Akwamu to the Gold Coast Colony, signed on 27 July 1886, was ratified.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds
According to our records, the sole treaty signed on this date was the Arrangement between Great Britain and Germany, supplementary to the Arrangement of April-June 1885, relative to the respective Spheres of Action of the two Countries in the Gulf of Guinea, signed at London on 27 July 1886 and 2 August 1886. It is described as having entered into force immediately, which is the later of the dates above, and ratification was not required.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the average length of paternity leave taken by staff in his Department was in each of the last three years.
Answered by Catherine West
Due to the migration of IT systems, the FCDO is unable to provide indicate timescales for Parental leave at this time.
The FCDO's Paternity Leave offer enables staff to take one or two weeks' statutory paternity leave. This enables staff to take the necessary time off whilst balancing work and home commitments.
Asked by: Shaun Davies (Labour - Telford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of Saudi Arabia's bid for election to the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK does not disclose voting positions on multilateral elections.