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637770

registered interest
date	16/11/2016
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: Languages
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action is being taken by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to improve target level attainment for languages for diplomatic and other staff based in key regions such as the Middle East and North Africa.
tabling member printed	Baroness Coussins
uin	HL3283
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/11/2016 answer text <p>Language skills are vital to diplomacy and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has increased the language training budget annually over the last three years to improve target level attainment. Officers posted to speaker slots overseas undergo full time language training to enable them to reach C1 operational level (equivalent to degree level) before taking up their posting. Those in speaker slots are encouraged, including through our performance management system, to take action if they have not reached their target level.</p> answering member printed Baroness Anelay of St Johns question first answered 30/11/2016 16:29:59 answering member 3474 label Biography information for Baroness Anelay of St Johns
tabling member	3829 label Biography information for Baroness Coussins

637771

registered interest
date	16/11/2016
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	Government Departments: Languages
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to extend participation in the cross-Whitehall language focus group to more government departments.
tabling member printed	Baroness Coussins
uin	HL3284
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/12/2016 answer text The cross-Whitehall Language group was re-launched on 10 November and we are keen to include other government departments who have an interest in, or need for, foreign language skills. answering member printed Baroness Anelay of St Johns question first answered 02/12/2016 11:40:56 answering member 3474 label Biography information for Baroness Anelay of St Johns
tabling member	3829 label Biography information for Baroness Coussins

637773

registered interest
date	16/11/2016
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	Turkey: Non-governmental Organisations
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they are making to the government of Turkey following reports of the shutting down of non-governmental organisations and associations, including women's groups, lawyers' associations and cultural societies; and what justifications, if any, they have received for such action.
tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
uin	HL3286
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/11/2016 answer text <p>We are aware that a number of Non-Governmental Organisations and other organisations in Turkey have had their operations halted for three months by the authorities on the grounds of suspected terror links. Civil society is an extremely important component of any democratic society and we are monitoring developments closely, as well as regularly raising our human rights concerns with the Turkish authorities.</p> answering member printed Baroness Anelay of St Johns question first answered 29/11/2016 17:44:50 answering member 3474 label Biography information for Baroness Anelay of St Johns
tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton

637784

registered interest
date	16/11/2016
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	Africa: International Criminal Court
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to those African nations which have made statements regarding their withdrawal from the International Criminal Court.
tabling member printed	Baroness Helic
uin	HL3297
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/11/2016 answer text <p>We are concerned by the decisions of the Republic of South Africa, Burundi and The Gambia to withdraw from the Rome Statute. The UK recognises the need for dialogue with States Parties and we took part in meetings in the margins of the Annual Assembly of States Parties in The Hague between 16 -24 November. Our High Commissioner in South Africa has had a number of discussions with senior officials about South African withdrawal.</p> answering member printed Baroness Anelay of St Johns question first answered 29/11/2016 15:31:56 answering member 3474 label Biography information for Baroness Anelay of St Johns
tabling member	4331 label Biography information for Baroness Helic

637867

registered interest
date	16/11/2016
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	Mexico: Religious Freedom
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the government of Mexico on the alleged persecution of Christians in Chichiltepec, Chachalaca and other parts of that country.
tabling member constituency	East Londonderry
tabling member printed	Mr Gregory Campbell
uin	53206
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/11/2016 answer text <p>​Issues relating to human rights and the rule of law are a priority for our engagement with Mexico. British Ministers and officials at our Embassy in Mexico City regularly raise our human rights concerns with the Mexican Government, including freedom of religion or belief and the treatment of the Christian community.</p> answering member constituency Rutland and Melton answering member printed Sir Alan Duncan question first answered 21/11/2016 15:40:51 answering member 343 label Biography information for Sir Alan Duncan
tabling member	1409 label Biography information for Mr Gregory Campbell

637868

registered interest
date	16/11/2016
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	EU Countries: Diplomatic Service
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 UK nationals are employed in UK embassies in EU countries.
tabling member constituency	St Helens North
tabling member printed	Conor McGinn
uin	53243
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/11/2016 answer text <p>The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) employs around 200 UK-based staff in its bilateral Embassies to the Member States of the European Union. By law such staff must be UK nationals or dual nationals.</p><p>The FCO also employs around 1100 locally employed staff in these Embassies. Many are UK nationals or dual nationals but the FCO does not collect data centrally on their nationality.</p> answering member constituency Rutland and Melton answering member printed Sir Alan Duncan question first answered 21/11/2016 17:52:32 answering member 343 label Biography information for Sir Alan Duncan
tabling member	4458 label Biography information for Conor McGinn

637869

registered interest
date	16/11/2016
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: Social Media
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department is monitoring content that is publicly available on social networking sites using overt monitoring techniques.
tabling member constituency	Hammersmith
tabling member printed	Andy Slaughter
uin	53227
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/11/2016 answer text <p>In line with the Foreign Office social media guidance [<a href="http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fco-social-media-guidance" target="_blank">www.gov.uk/government/publications/fco-social-media-guidance</a>] published online, the Department encourages all staff to make full use of the opportunities provided by social media to help deliver the Department's objectives. This includes, but is not limited to, monitoring social media:</p><ul><li>to respond to relevant enquiries on FCO social media channels</li><li>to monitor the effectiveness of government campaigns using the Government Communications Service Evaluation Framework <a href="https://gcs.civilservice.gov.uk/guidance/evaluation/tools-and-resources/" target="_blank">https://gcs.civilservice.gov.uk/guidance/evaluation/tools-and-resources/</a></li><li>around events - to collect information and identify influential accounts</li><li>responses to consultations and crowd sourcing exercises that can be used in the formulation of policy</li></ul><p>FCO staff are expected to use social media for research: following discussions, keeping track of news and building networks as part of their day to day work. This may involve setting up an account with a third-party monitoring tool.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 24/11/2016 17:16:53 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	1516 label Biography information for Andy Slaughter

637870

registered interest
date	16/11/2016
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: Procurement
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 times his Department has (a) terminated a contract, (b) imposed a penalty and (c) denied permission for a company to tender on the grounds of grave professional misconduct since November 2015.
tabling member constituency	Westmorland and Lonsdale
tabling member printed	Tim Farron
uin	53197
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/11/2016 answer text <p>Our records show no such instances since November 2015.</p><p>Due to devolved contractual authority central FCO records cover only UK let contracts of a value of £80k or more.</p> answering member constituency Rutland and Melton answering member printed Sir Alan Duncan question first answered 24/11/2016 13:53:54 answering member 343 label Biography information for Sir Alan Duncan
tabling member	1591 label Biography information for Tim Farron

637871

registered interest
date	16/11/2016
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	Palestinians: Recognition of States
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what criteria his Department plans to use in order to decide whether to recognise Palestine statehood.
tabling member constituency	Knowsley
tabling member printed	Mr George Howarth
uin	53321
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/11/2016 answer text <p>​The UK will recognise a Palestinian state at a time most helpful to the peace process. We judge that a negotiated end to the occupation is the most effective way for Palestinian aspirations of statehood to be met. We continue to be one of the principal supporters of Palestinian state building efforts, assisting them to tackle poverty, build institutions and boost their economy.</p> answering member constituency Bournemouth East answering member printed Mr Tobias Ellwood question first answered 24/11/2016 13:08:09 answering member 1487 label Biography information for Mr Tobias Ellwood
tabling member	481 label Biography information for Sir George Howarth

637872

registered interest
date	16/11/2016
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	Turkey: Students
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Turkish government on students who are being held in prison for lengthy periods without charge.
tabling member constituency	Carshalton and Wallington
tabling member printed	Tom Brake
uin	53304
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/11/2016 answer text <p>​The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has raised concerns with the Turkish Government over the period of pre-charge custody under the current State of Emergency. We have urged a proportionate response to the coup and respect for freedom of expression, including academic freedom.</p> answering member constituency Rutland and Melton answering member printed Sir Alan Duncan question first answered 24/11/2016 16:15:43 answering member 343 label Biography information for Sir Alan Duncan
tabling member	151 label Biography information for Tom Brake