Asked by: Stephen Phillips (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the UK is entitled to be represented before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in Philippines v. China.
Answered by Lord Swire
The UK is not party to the case of Philippines v China before the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and is therefore not entitled to be formally represented before the PCA in this case.
Asked by: Stephen Phillips (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government has formed a view on the legality of the maritime claims made by the People's Republic of China in the South China Sea as set out in the nine-dotted line map annexed to the Notes Verbales communicated to the UN Secretary-General in May 2009.
Answered by Lord Swire
The UK takes no position on the underlying and conflicting claims in the South China Sea. We encourage all parties to resolve all their maritime disputes peacefully, in accordance with international law, for example the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Asked by: Stephen Phillips (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the UK plans to be represented before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in Philippines v. China.
Answered by Lord Swire
The UK is not party to the case of Philippines v China before the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and is therefore not entitled to be formally represented before the PCA in this case.
Asked by: Stephen Phillips (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the Government of Saudi Arabia on the ending the restrictions on imports of fuel, food and medical supplies to Yemen.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
During a visit to Saudi Arabia on 28 October, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) met his counterpart, Minister Al Jubeir. They discussed humanitarian issues, including humanitarian access to Yemeni ports, as well as the need for accelerating the political process in Yemen. We welcome the Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister’s and President Hadi’s statements that all of Yemen’s ports are open and the initial indications of progress on maritime access, but more needs to be done.
To have real impact, commercial and humanitarian access must be sustained and systematic. The UN verification and Inspection Mechanism (UNVIM) is the best way to ensure this. We are working closely with the UN to establish it as soon as possible. The Secretary of State for International Development, my right hon. Friend the Member for Putney (Justine Greening) has also expressed the UK’s readiness to support to the UNVIM and DfID has just committed £1.4 million to the UN to support its establishment.
Asked by: Stephen Phillips (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to support the establishment of an independent international body to investigate violations of international law in Yemen.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
We remain deeply concerned about the human rights situation and alleged violations of International Humanitarian Law in Yemen. The UK fully and actively supports the UN’s efforts to achieve a political solution to bring an end to the conflict. This will help create the conditions for the legitimate Government to improve its capacity to protect human rights. The UK has previously engaged the Yemeni Government - both bilaterally and through the UN Human Rights Council - on a wide range of human rights issues. We continue to raise the importance of compliance international human rights law with all sides to the conflict.
We welcome the September UN Human Rights Council resolution which contains mechanisms for monitoring the human rights situation in Yemen. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has been tasked to help Yemen investigate human rights abuses and violations, but it will be up to Yemen to decide on how it sets up its own domestic mechanism. We welcome Yemen's commitment to cooperate with the UN on protection of human rights.
Asked by: Stephen Phillips (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
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 support the resolution of discussions on the sovereignty of oil reserves in the Golan Heights.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The Government believes that Israel must continue to fulfil its obligations under the Oslo Accords, including through the exploration of shared natural resources. We continue to follow the situation of the oil exploration licences in the Golan Heights closely. We have been clear that Israel must comply with its obligations under international law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Asked by: Stephen Phillips (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
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 support the Nigerian government on returning displaced people to areas previously in the control of Boko Haram.
Answered by James Duddridge
We welcome the recent progress made by the Nigerian armed forces in the fight against Boko Haram and the UK continues to support their efforts. The security situation in North East Nigeria however remains extremely fragile and it is not yet appropriate for many displaced people to return to their homes. The UK is supporting the Government of Nigeria and the UN to help those affected by the conflict and we have provided £5.5 million this year for the humanitarian response in North East Nigeria. Tackling Boko Haram will require a comprehensive approach that addresses the political, economic and development problems in North East Nigeria, in addition to a security response. We are supporting the Nigerian authorities to improve security and put the conditions in place to enable the safe return of internally displaced people to their homes.
Asked by: Stephen Phillips (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the economic benefits of (a) dualling the A17 in its entirety and (b) dualling its single carriageway sections.
Answered by Andrew Jones
No assessment has been undertaken by the Department for Transport of the economic benefits of dualling the A17 in its entirety or in single sections. The A17 forms part of the local road network and is the responsibility of Lincolnshire County Council and Nottinghamshire County Council. It is for the councils concerned to develop proposals to dual this road if they wish to do so, working closely with the respective Local Enterprise Partnerships.
Asked by: Stephen Phillips (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much Department for International Development expenditure his Department reported to NATO as defence spending in each year from 2006 to 2014.
Answered by Michael Fallon
This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Stephen Phillips (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to improve the resilience of healthcare provision in West Africa.
Answered by Grant Shapps - Secretary of State for Defence
In countries affected by the Ebola virus, DFID is committed to building resilient health systems and to ensuring we learn the lessons from the crisis.
The World Health Organisation declared Sierra Leone ‘Ebola free’ on 7 November 2015. The UK’s objective is to maintain the vigilance necessary to prevent any future outbreaks from growing into epidemics. The UK has announced a two-year £240 million package of support to Sierra Leone’s long term recovery, which includes boosting capability to respond to future Ebola outbreaks, and improving basic services including, vitally, healthcare. DFID will also support Liberia’s Health Pooled fund with £6 million to help ensure that health system is resilient to future shocks.
Beyond Sierra Leone and Liberia, DFID is providing £17 million through its Regional Preparedness Programme, which aims to prevent the transmission and spread of the Ebola in at-risk countries in West Africa; and to strengthen national capacities to accelerate preparedness measures and improve readiness to detect and act to contain disease outbreaks.
In doing this, as well as through wider health programmes across West Africa, we are helping countries to have better health systems for normal times – as well as in case of emergency.