Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, with reference to page 21 of the progress update entitled Transforming for a Digital Future: Government's 2022 to 25 roadmap for digital and data, published in February 2024, when his Department first assessed each of its red-rated legacy IT systems as red-rated.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO), in the Cabinet Office, has established a programme to support departments managing legacy IT. CDDO has agreed a framework to identify 'red-rated' systems, indicating high levels of risk surrounding certain assets within the IT estate. Departments have committed to have remediation plans in place for these systems by next year (2025). It is not appropriate to release sensitive information held about specific red-rated systems or more detailed plans for remediation within the FCDO's IT estate, as this information could indicate which systems may be at risk, and may highlight potential security vulnerabilities. FCDO are actively managing their legacy estate via their existing change plans through system upgrades and migration to public cloud.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, how much aid his Department has provided to China in the last five years.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We stopped direct government-to-government aid to the Chinese Government in 2011. Total FCDO Official Development Assistance (ODA) China spend between 2018-2022 was £103.5 million, including ODA spend such as British Council activity. In a Written Ministerial Statement (WMS) in April 2021, the FCDO committed to cut ODA funded programmes in China by 95 per cent from the 2021-22 financial year, which it has delivered. All new ODA programme funding has been limited to supporting our open societies and human rights objectives in China. The projects we fund using ODA typically aim to support those in China who work to improve human rights. Final data for UK ODA spend in 2023 will be available when the next Statistics on International Development (SID) is published in September 2024. A significant proportion of this funding was spent by the British council.
Asked by: Lyn Brown (Labour - West Ham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what recent assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of (a) food insecurity and (b) other humanitarian needs in the Central African Republic.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Conflict is the main driver of food insecurity and humanitarian need in the Central African Republic (CAR), having displaced over a quarter of the population, left 2.9 million people in need of humanitarian assistance and 2 million people - a third of the population - severely food insecure. Since 2014 the UK has been a major contributor to the humanitarian response plan in CAR, having contributed over £138 million. The UK is currently supporting the World Food Programme, amongst others, in CAR to address levels of food insecurity. In 2024 the UK support will help provide over 266,000 people with humanitarian assistance in CAR.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what steps he is taking at the UN to increase the supply of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We are calling for an immediate pause to get aid in and hostages out, then progress towards a sustainable, permanent ceasefire, without a return to destruction, fighting and loss of life. The passing of UN Security Council Resolution 2728 on 25 March reflected international consensus behind this position.
We continue to use public and private diplomatic channels as well as the UN and other multilateral fora to underline the need to get more aid into Gaza. Ambassador Woodward made this clear in her statement to the UN Security Council on 18 April, when she urgently called for the full implementation of UN resolution 2720 to protect civilians and enable humanitarian assistance.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what discussions he has had on the provision of UK medical and surgical (a) services and (b) personnel in Gaza.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We are doing all we can to get more aid into Gaza by land, air and sea. A UK Med field hospital, funded by the UK, is up and running in Gaza. This facility is staffed by UK and local medics and is treating over 100 patients a day.
The Prime Minister and Government Ministers have underlined the need for Israel to ensure effective deconfliction in Gaza, and to take all possible measures to ensure the safety of medical personnel and facilities.
Asked by: John McDonnell (Labour - Hayes and Harlington)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, with reference to the oral contribution of the Prime Minister in response to the the hon. Member for Liverpool Riverside during the Oral Statement of 15 April 2024 on Iran-Israel Update, Official Report, column 54, for what reason the United Kingdom abstained on the vote on admitting a Palestinian state as a full member of the United Nations on 18 April 2024.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
As the Prime Minister made clear, the UK supports a two-state solution that guarantees security and stability for both the Israeli and Palestinian people.
We agree that the people of the West Bank and Gaza must be given the political perspective of a credible route to a Palestinian state and a new future. And it needs to be irreversible.
We believe that recognition of Palestinian statehood should not come at the start of a new process, but it does not have to be at the very end of the process.
We must start with fixing the immediate crisis in Gaza.Gaza is Occupied Palestinian Territory and must be part of a future Palestinian state. However, Hamas is still in control of parts of Gaza and Israeli hostages remain in captivity - this shows that we are still at the start of the process.
Ensuring Hamas is no longer in charge of Gaza and removing Hamas' capacity to launch attacks against Israel are essential and unavoidable steps on the road to lasting peace; as is working together to support the new Palestinian government as it takes much-needed steps on reform and resumes governance in Gaza as well as the West Bank.
We abstained on the vote at the UN Security Council because we must keep our focus on securing an immediate pause in order to get aid in and hostages out; then making progress towards a sustainable ceasefire without a return to destruction, fighting and loss of life.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has had discussions at the UN on the potential use of UN peacekeepers to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The deployment of UN peacekeepers would require a UN Security Council Resolution and the consent of all parties to the conflict. We judge neither of these requirements to be obtainable at this time.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Israeli attack on Iran on 19 April 2024 on the wider regional (a) military and (b) humanitarian situation.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
At the G7 Foreign Ministers' meeting on 19 April, the Foreign Secretary and G7 partners called for all parties to prevent further escalation.
During his visit to the region last week, the Foreign Secretary reiterated to Prime Minister Netanyahu that we will continue to stand up for Israel's security, and the security of all our regional partners. He also made clear that we must maintain our focus on getting more aid into Gaza and getting hostages out.
Asked by: Neil Hudson (Conservative - Penrith and The Border)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what steps his Department is taking to help prevent an escalation of conflict in the Middle East.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
We have condemned in the strongest terms Iran's direct attack against Israel on 13 April. It was unprecedented and reckless, and a dangerous escalation. The UK will continue to stand up for Israel's security and the security of all our regional partners. It is essential that we now prevent further escalation.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what steps he is taking with his international counterparts to tackle human rights violations in Iran (a) relating to recent protests and (b) generally.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We continue to work with international partners to hold Iran accountable for its unacceptable human rights record. At the 55th Human Rights Council session, the UK was on the core group for the Iran human rights resolution, which successfully renewed the mandates of the Special Rapporteur and the Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Iran human rights, enabling continued monitoring of abuses against women and girls and religious and ethnic minorities, as well as freedom of expression. We continue to engage with UK-based and international organisations on human rights, including Iranian diaspora organisations. In October 2023, the former Foreign Secretary and Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon hosted a roundtable with women's rights activists, joining them publicly in calling for an end to impunity and violence. Since October 2022, we have sanctioned 94 individuals or entities for human rights abuses, including senior decision makers responsible for enforcing Iran's mandatory hijab law. We continually assess our human rights sanctions regime, and will make further designations where we have the evidence to do so. We will continue to raise human rights issues with the Iranian Government.