Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Commonwealth Secretary-General about Gambia's return to the Commonwealth; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by David Lidington
The UK has had no discussions with the Commonwealth Secretary-General, Kamalesh Sharma, about The Gambia’s return to the Commonwealth. The decision to withdraw from the Commonwealth was an executive decision taken solely by Gambian President Jammeh. Although the Commonwealth Secretary-General has publicly stated that The Gambia’s return would be welcomed, President Jammeh has made it clear that he will not reverse his decision. If The Gambia did decide to return to the Commonwealth, it would need to make a formal application to the Secretary-General.Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to increase bilateral trade with Indonesia; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lord Swire
The Government is committed to growing trade between the UK and Indonesia. The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) appointed my hon. Friend, the Member for Gloucester (Richard Graham) as Trade Envoy to Indonesia in November 2012. He has visited Indonesia six times since his appointment and has introduced British companies to senior decision makers in the Indonesian government and the private sector, as well as promoting the benefits of doing business in Indonesia at events across the UK. British exports of goods to Indonesia grew by 2.6% in 2012 and 8% in 2013 .
Indonesia is also part of the Government’s Overseas Business Network Initiative, through which the British Chamber of Commerce in Indonesia provides additional complementary services to British companies seeking to do business in Indonesia. This initiative has enabled a doubling in the assistance offered to British companies.
The Government announced the establishment of the UK ASEAN Business Council (UKABC) in November 2011. The UKABC’s purpose is to facilitate a step change in trade between the UK and South East Asia by raising awareness of the opportunities in the region and providing practical advice on doing business there. This year the UKABC has organised four events specifically focussed on Indonesia; representatives from the UK Trade and Investment Indonesia team or the British Chamber of Commerce in Indonesia have also participated in the UKABC’s regionally-focussed events.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations the Government has made to the government of the People's Republic of China on protests and unrest in Hong Kong; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lord Swire
The situation in Hong Kong has been raised multiple times since the protests began, including between the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) and President Xi, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) and the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and Lord Livingston and Hong Kong Financial Secretary John Tsang. I have personally raised this issue with Guo Yezhou, Vice Minister of the International Liaison Department of the Communist Party, and Rimsky Yuen, the Hong Kong Secretary of Justice. In addition, our officials have had regular contact on this issue with representatives from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the government of the People's Republic of China.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office issued statements on the situation in Hong Kong on both 29 September and 2 October. I made a statement to Parliament on 13 October and also responded to debates on Hong Kong in Westminster Hall on 22 October and in the House of Commons on 2 December.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has assessed the recent Moldovan parliamentary elections as free and fair; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by David Lidington
The 30 November Moldovan parliamentary elections illustrate Moldova’s commitment to democracy. We support the right of every Moldovan voter to have their say on the future they want for their country without outside interference.
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights-led international election mission’s Statement of Preliminary Findings and Conclusions found that the parliamentary elections were "conducted in line with international standards and norms". And that, although the late exclusion from the election of one political party raised questions about timing and circumstances, there was a wide choice of political alternatives.
The UK provided two long-term and 18 short-term observers to the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights mission.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he has taken to insulate his Departmental estate in order to improve energy efficiency; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by David Lidington
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has insulated heating and cooling pipework as well as boilers throughout its UK estate. Our listed London buildings have high thermal mass, but lose heat via thin single pane windows. We have installed a limited amount of secondary glazing, but comprehensively replacing windows with listed building compatible secondary glazing would be prohibitively expensive. We have been piloting sealants to reduce draughts in London and at Hanslope Park. Wall insulation has been installed in parts of the top floor of our King Charles Street premises.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the capacity of his Department's buildings for the micro-generation of renewable energy; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by David Lidington
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has assessed the potential for installing renewable technologies on its London and Hanslope Park estate. The installation of solar panels or wind turbines on the London estate was determined not to be feasible for infrastructural, planning and other reasons.
A feasibility study at our large Hanslope Park campus site, looked at a range of renewable options, including wind, roof mounted solar photovoltaic panels, solar domestic hot water, a photovoltaic solar farm, a photovoltaic solar canopy over the car park, tri-generation biomass heat and power, anaerobic digestion and ground source heat pumps. It concluded that the best option would be to install site-wide renewables on a larger than micro-generation scale.
At present, 100% biodiesel from waste and secondary oils is used to heat Hanslope Park, providing 2,878,247 kWh of ultra-low carbon heat in the 2013/14 winter heating season.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Russian Federation on that country's increased patrols near NATO airspace; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by David Lidington
We have made no direct representations to the Government of Russia on this issue. The UK strongly supports comments made by NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg last week calling on Russia to obey the norms of international air traffic and understand that he has plans to follow up with Russia directly on this point. NATO Foreign Ministers, including the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), will discuss Russia’s actions at the forthcoming meeting on 2 December. The UK strongly supports exploring options to improve military transparency between NATO and Russia.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to reduce water (a) usage and (b) bills in his Department; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by David Lidington
In the last two years, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has implemented, or is implementing, the following measures to reduce water consumption in its UK estate:
•Reducing water flow pressure
•Adjusting urinal flushing
•Installation of shower and tap regulators
•Installation of single flush toilets and low flush urinals
•Water softening on data-centre chilled water system
•Installation of more efficient washing machines
•Installation of toilet cistern water saving devices
•Extensive installation of water sub-meters
•Analysis of water consumption per building to identify waste
•Grey water harvesting at our Hanslope Park data-centre building
•Water audit at Hanslope Park
•Leak detection
By the quarter July to September 2014, these measures had reduced water consumption by 27.5% compared to the same period in 2013. That represents an annual water saving of 18,256m3.
There have been no specific actions yet to renegotiate water tariffs.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure its services are available online; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by David Lidington
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is implementing its Digital Strategy which envisages providing its services digitally by default where possible. As envisaged in that strategy, the FCO has put in place a small Digital Transformation Unit with the necessary skills to drive that agenda. That Unit has put in place a prioritised plan for the transformation of the FCO’s services and has thus far transformed Chevening Scholarship applications and begun the roll out of a new online booking service for Consular appointments.
Asked by: Simon Kirby (Conservative - Brighton, Kemptown)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how often his Department reviews its processes regarding the logging of emails, letters and other correspondence received; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by David Lidington
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) continuously reviews the way in which it processes the letters and emails it receives. With regard to the time frame for responding to letters from parliamentarians and members of the public, the FCO follows Cabinet Office guidance on handling correspondence from Members of Parliament, Peers, MEPs and Members of devolved Administrations, which is available online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/61196/guide-handling-gov-correspondence.pdf