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 Algerian government to ensure the safety of UK oil and gas workers in the country; and who his primary point of contact in the office of the President of that country is in discussions on that matter.

We discuss the security of hydrocarbon sites at the UK-Algeria Strategic Security Partnership, which was established after In Amenas and met for the second time in November 2013. In this forum the National Security Advisor, Sir Kim Darroch, spoke to Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal, Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra and the Algerian military about this issue. I also discussed the importance of security at hydrocarbon sites with the then Algerian Deputy Foreign Minister Madjid Bouguerra during my visits to Algiers in both January and April 2014.