Show Search Form

Search Results

registered interest	true false
date	exactly: or between: and
answering body
answering dept id
answering dept short name
answering dept sort name
hansard heading
house id
legislature	pref label
question text
tabling member constituency
tabling member printed
uin
answer	is ministerial correction true false date of answer exactly: or between: and answer text answering member constituency answering member printed question first answered answering member label
tabling member	label

Search

1150351

	registered interest
	date	17/10/2019
	answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept id	16
	answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	hansard heading	China: Prisoners
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 3 September 2019 to Question 281598 on Organs, what assessment the Government has made of the validity of reports of organ harvesting in the People’s Republic of China; and what steps the Government is taking in response to those reports.
	tabling member constituency	West Ham
	tabling member printed	Lyn Brown
	uin	1644
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/10/2019 answer text <p>The Government’s position has not changed. As the Prime Minister’s former Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion and Belief, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad, said in Parliament on 25 July,</p><p>“I note the time and energy that the International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China has dedicated to this issue. Officials have reviewed the evidence thoroughly. While the evidence is not incontrovertible, we take these allegations seriously and have consulted the World Health Organization and international partners. The evidence provided disturbing details about the mistreatment of Falun Gong practitioners, and raised worrying questions about China’s transplant system. We continue to monitor all available evidence.”</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South Derbyshire answering member printed Mrs Heather Wheeler question first answered 21/10/2019 16:35:28 answering member 4053 label Biography information for Mrs Heather Wheeler
	tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

1150323

	registered interest
	date	17/10/2019
	answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept id	16
	answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	hansard heading	Slavery
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 8 October 2019 to Question 294234, if he will separate the roles of modern slavery envoy and migration envoy.
	tabling member constituency	Nottingham North
	tabling member printed	Alex Norris
	uin	1777
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/10/2019 answer text <p>On the 18 October HMG announced the appointment of Jennifer Townson as Modern Slavery and Migration Envoy. Migration and modern slavery are separate issues which are closely linked and this combined enovy role will be able to effectively address these synergies, whilst tackling the different drivers. The Modern Slavery and Migration Envoy will work internationally to enrich our understanding and sharpen our interventions, enabling the UK to be at the forefront in international discussions on both issues.</p> answering member constituency South Derbyshire answering member printed Mrs Heather Wheeler question first answered 22/10/2019 10:18:17 answering member 4053 label Biography information for Mrs Heather Wheeler
	tabling member	4641 label Biography information for Alex Norris

1150123

	registered interest
	date	16/10/2019
	answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept id	16
	answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	hansard heading	China: Transplant Surgery
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 3 September 2019 to Question 281598 on Organs, what steps the Government plans to take in response to reports of (a) the mistreatment of Falun Gong practitioners and (b) abuses taking place within China’s transplant system.
	tabling member constituency	West Ham
	tabling member printed	Lyn Brown
	uin	964
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/10/2019 answer text <p>There is credible evidence that Falun Gong practitioners are subjected to serious mistreatment. We regularly raise concerns with China on the treatment of religious and ethnic minorities, and continue to monitor evidence surrounding abuses taking place within China’s transplant system.</p><p>On 26 September during an Urgent Question on Hong Kong, the Foreign Secretary set out the UK’s position on the persecution of religious groups in China, including Falun Gong practitioners, on the grounds of religion or belief. As the Foreign Secretary stated in the House, we are concerned that Chinese Government guidelines on unapproved religious activity, education and travel may restrict the peaceful observation of those rights. Further, at the 41<sup>st</sup> session of the UN Human Rights Council in July 2019, we raised our concerns about freedom of religion or belief in our ‘Item 4’ national statement.</p> answering member constituency South Derbyshire answering member printed Mrs Heather Wheeler question first answered 21/10/2019 16:32:52 answering member 4053 label Biography information for Mrs Heather Wheeler
	tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

1150122

	registered interest
	date	16/10/2019
	answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept id	16
	answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	hansard heading	China: Prisoners
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 1 October 2019 to Question HL17757 on China: Prisoners, when his Department held its most recent consultation relating to organ harvesting in the People’s Republic of China with (a) the World Health Organisation and (b) other international organisations.
	tabling member constituency	West Ham
	tabling member printed	Lyn Brown
	uin	963
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/10/2019 answer text <p>The World Health Organisation (WHO) and other international organisations act independently of the British Government, and as such we cannot disclose, nor oblige them to disclose, the details of their work. Our most recent consultation with the WHO relating to organ harvesting in China took place on 15 May.</p><p>We consult and share assessments with a wide range of human rights and international organisations on the basis of confidentiality. In order to maintain working relationships with these organisations, we do not publish details of discussions between them and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South Derbyshire answering member printed Mrs Heather Wheeler question first answered 21/10/2019 16:27:58 answering member 4053 label Biography information for Mrs Heather Wheeler
	tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

1149865

	registered interest
	date	16/10/2019
	answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept id	16
	answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	hansard heading	Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Energy Supply
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 2 October 2019 to Question 290335 and to the Answer of 1 October 2019 to Question 290324, if he will introduce the same policy as the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and switch to an electricity provider that supplies electricity solely from renewable resources within the next 12 months; and for what reason his Department has not already ensured its electricity is supplied solely from renewable resources.
	tabling member constituency	Scunthorpe
	tabling member printed	Nic Dakin
	uin	1005
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/10/2019 answer text <p>The electricity used by the FCO across its UK estate is procured using the Crown Commercial Service (CCS). CCS is an executive agency and trading fund of the Cabinet Office of the British Government.</p><p>Through their competitively tendered Energy related commercial agreements, CCS ensure all legislation is adhered to including the environmental standards of suppliers. CCS is not able to dictate the sources of power to be supplied to the government departments as this is internal policy driven. The FCO is currently receiving electricity from the standard UK supply mix, however they have the option to access renewable energy from a variety of alternative routes, taking into account the additional financial commitment.</p><p>The current CCS framework under which the FCO procures its electricity expires in 2023. Under the CCS framework, the electricity is supplied by EDF. The electricity supplied is not solely from renewable resources. The CCS Framework does provide the ability to have electricity solely from renewable resources. The FCO is investigating this option.</p><p>The FCO actively seeks to manage its energy consumption as demonstrated by having reduced carbon emissions associated with its UK energy consumption from 9,485 tCO2e in 2017/18 to 7,357 tCO2e in 2018/19, a reduction of 22.44%.</p> answering member constituency South Derbyshire answering member printed Mrs Heather Wheeler question first answered 21/10/2019 16:01:35 answering member 4053 label Biography information for Mrs Heather Wheeler
	tabling member	4056 label Biography information for Nic Dakin

1150002

	registered interest
	date	16/10/2019
	answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept id	16
	answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	hansard heading	Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Staff
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many full time equivalent staff worked on climate change and energy in (a) his Department's UK-based offices and (b) embassies, high commissions and other overseas posts in each year from and including 2010 to 2019.
	tabling member constituency	Brent North
	tabling member printed	Barry Gardiner
	uin	833
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/10/2019 answer text <p>The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) works actively across the international climate and energy agenda in partnership with the work of the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and other government departments. Some of the functions previously filled by FCO staff are now delivered by officials in these departments, for example, international climate change strategy and policy.</p><p>Climate Change and Energy (CCE) work is a network-wide priority, so forms part of a wide range of officers' work, including Heads of Mission and staff at all levels. The time allocated varies widely from a very small part of an officer's time to full time work on CCE.</p><p>The table below shows numbers of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) FCO staff working on CCE issues. Staffing figures rely on individual staff members' recording of their activities.</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Financial Year</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>FTE FCO Staff working in London</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>FTE FCO Staff working overseas</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Total</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2009/10</p></td><td><p>69.175</p></td><td><p>264.951</p></td><td><p>334.126</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010/11</p></td><td><p>47.493</p></td><td><p>204.508</p></td><td><p>252.001</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011/12</p></td><td><p>48.278</p></td><td><p>166.218</p></td><td><p>214.496</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012/13</p></td><td><p>43.840</p></td><td><p>169.939</p></td><td><p>213.779</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013/14</p></td><td><p>44.897</p></td><td><p>156.699</p></td><td><p>201.596</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014/15</p></td><td><p>41.482</p></td><td><p>162.824</p></td><td><p>204.306</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015/16</p></td><td><p>31.937</p></td><td><p>148.539</p></td><td><p>180.476</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016/17</p></td><td><p>18.77</p></td><td><p>111.86</p></td><td><p>130.63</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017/18</p></td><td><p>11.505</p></td><td><p>97.019</p></td><td><p>108.524</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018/19</p></td><td><p>10.19</p></td><td><p>96.712</p></td><td><p>106.902</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2019/20</p></td><td><p>19.59</p></td><td><p>109.067</p></td><td><p>128.657</p></td></tr></tbody></table> answering member constituency South Derbyshire answering member printed Mrs Heather Wheeler question first answered 21/10/2019 15:58:21 answering member 4053 label Biography information for Mrs Heather Wheeler
	tabling member	146 label Biography information for Barry Gardiner

1149281

	registered interest
	date	15/10/2019
	answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept id	16
	answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	hansard heading	China: Uyghurs
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the (a) governance of and (b) humanitarian situation in (i) Uighur and (ii) Xinjiang province, China.
	tabling member constituency	Woking
	tabling member printed	Mr Jonathan Lord
	uin	560
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/10/2019 answer text <p>​We have serious concerns about the human rights and humanitarian situation in Xinjiang, where there are credible reports of over a million Uyghurs and other minorities being detained in so called &quot;re-education camps.&quot; British diplomats in China visit Xinjiang regularly, most recently in May, in order to see the situation at first-hand. Their observations have supported much of the recent open source reporting, including reports of widespread surveillance measures, restrictions targeted at specific ethnic groups, and restrictions on the ability to freely practice religion.</p> answering member constituency South Derbyshire answering member printed Mrs Heather Wheeler question first answered 21/10/2019 15:18:58 answering member 4053 label Biography information for Mrs Heather Wheeler
	tabling member	4090 label Biography information for Mr Jonathan Lord

1149512

	registered interest
	date	15/10/2019
	answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept id	16
	answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	hansard heading	Human Rights
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has a policy on the support and protection of human rights defenders worldwide.
	tabling member constituency	Leeds North East
	tabling member printed	Fabian Hamilton
	uin	455
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/10/2019 answer text <p>​The UK strongly supports the rights of human rights defenders worldwide to carry out their work safely and without fear. In July 2019, the UK published the document 'UK Support for Human Rights Defenders' that sets out our ongoing dedication to supporting and protecting human rights defenders worldwide. Our work to support human rights defenders across our global network of posts takes its inspiration from the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders; it includes attending trials, making public statements, raising cases privately with the host government, and lobbying for safe and open space for within which civil society and human rights defenders can operate. We also regularly engage with NGO representatives and human rights defenders to discuss the challenges which human rights defenders face and how the UK can best help in overcoming them.</p> answering member constituency South Derbyshire answering member printed Mrs Heather Wheeler question first answered 22/10/2019 10:21:04 answering member 4053 label Biography information for Mrs Heather Wheeler
	tabling member	415 label Biography information for Fabian Hamilton

1149372

	registered interest
	date	15/10/2019
	answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept id	16
	answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	hansard heading	Sri Lanka: Tamils
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the UK Government is taking to support the protection of human rights of Tamil communities in Sri Lanka.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
	uin	432
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/10/2019 answer text <p>The UK has called on the Government of Sri Lanka to make progress on human rights issues for all communities in Sri Lanka. The UK continues to encourage and support Sri Lanka to deliver the commitments it made to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) through Resolutions 30/1, 34/1 and 40/1. A national process initiated by the Government of Sri Lanka and supported by all communities offers the best route to achieve these goals. We continue to look to Sri Lanka to deliver in full the commitments it has made to the UNHRC.</p><p>We continue to raise human rights issues in our engagement with the Government of Sri Lanka. During his recent visit to Sri Lanka on 2-3 October, Minister of State for the Commonwealth, UN and South Asia Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon met with faith and political leaders including the leader of the Tamil National Alliance R Sampanthan. He reinforced to Foreign Minister Marapana the importance of Sri Lanka delivering fully on its commitments to the UNHRC.</p><p>The UK remains committed to supporting peacebuilding, human rights and development in Sri Lanka for all its communities. We are providing funding through the Conflict, Stability and Security fund to support police reform and training, reconciliation, peace building and demining in the north of the country.</p> answering member constituency South Derbyshire answering member printed Mrs Heather Wheeler question first answered 21/10/2019 15:02:51 answering member 4053 label Biography information for Mrs Heather Wheeler
	tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham

1149371

	registered interest
	date	15/10/2019
	answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept id	16
	answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
	hansard heading	Sri Lanka: Tamils
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Sri Lankan counterpart on the status of Tamil people in Sri Lanka.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry South
	tabling member printed	Mr Jim Cunningham
	uin	431
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/10/2019 answer text <p>The UK has called on the Government of Sri Lanka to make progress on human rights issues for all communities in Sri Lanka. The UK continues to encourage and support Sri Lanka to deliver the commitments it made to the UN Human Rights Council through Resolutions (UNHRC) 30/1, 34/1 and 40/1. A national process initiated by the Government of Sri Lanka and supported by all communities offers the best route to achieve these goals. We continue to look to Sri Lanka to deliver in full the commitments it has made to the UNHRC.</p><p>We continue to raise human rights issues in our engagement with the Government of Sri Lanka. During his recent visit to Sri Lanka on 2-3 October, Minister of State for the Commonwealth, UN and South Asia Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon met with faith and political leaders including the leader of the Tamil National Alliance R Sampanthan. He reinforced to Foreign Minister Marapana the importance of Sri Lanka delivering fully on its commitments to the UNHRC.</p><p>The UK remains committed to supporting peacebuilding, human rights and development in Sri Lanka for all its communities. We are providing funding through the Conflict, Stability and Security fund to support police reform and training, reconciliation, peace building and demining in the north of the country.</p> answering member constituency South Derbyshire answering member printed Mrs Heather Wheeler question first answered 21/10/2019 14:56:10 answering member 4053 label Biography information for Mrs Heather Wheeler
	tabling member	308 label Biography information for Mr Jim Cunningham