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100605

registered interest
date	23/10/2014
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	Council of Europe
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will be represented at the forthcoming Council of Europe conference in Baku, Azerbaijan; and what representations they will make regarding the implementation of recent European Court of Human Rights decisions concerning Azerbaijan.
tabling member printed	Lord Hylton
uin	HL2336
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>The British Government takes all opportunities to raise its concerns about the lack of fundamental freedoms in Azerbaijan, including the implementation of judgments by the European Court of Human Rights, and does so at a range of levels on a regular basis. The UK will be represented at official level at Azerbaijan's forthcoming closing Council of Europe conference in Baku.</p> answering member printed Baroness Anelay of St Johns question first answered 03/11/2014 15:18:50 answering member 3474 label Biography information for Baroness Anelay of St Johns
tabling member	2018 label Biography information for Lord Hylton

100608

registered interest
date	23/10/2014
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	Civil Servants: Languages
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many diplomatic staff and civil servants from each department or government agency have received or are receiving language training at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Language School.
tabling member printed	Baroness Coussins
uin	HL2339
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>Since the Language Centre opened on 19th September 2013 a total of 45 different languages have been studied there either full or part-time by 813 students. Of those students, 779 are Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) staff and 34 are from other government departments (OGDs) (including staff from the following departments: Ministry of Defence, Cabinet Office, the Department for Business, Innovation &amp; Skills, Home Office, Ministry of Justice, UK Trade and Investment, the Department for International Development, HM Revenue and Customs, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Department of Energy and Climate Change, and the House of Commons). An additional 60 FCO staff have trained at the Institut Francais. Staff across the Civil Service can also access the FCO Language Centre library to continue to develop their own language skills outside formal study and 58 OGD staff have taken advantage of this offer so far. <br><br>It is important to note that when more appropriate, staff from OGDs also receive language training outside of the FCO Language Centre through use of the Civil Service-wide contract with Language Services Direct (the company that run the FCO Language Centre) or at the Institut Francais if French is required. Since September 2014, 113 OGD students have received language training on their own premises via the FCO contract. <br><br>The table below provides a breakdown of the languages that have been taught at the FCO Language Centre :<br><br>Albanian 2 <br>Arabic 186 <br>Azeri 1 <br>Bosnian 1 <br>Bulgarian 3 <br>Burmese 1 <br>Cambodian 1 <br>Czech 1 <br>Danish 2 <br>Dari 5 <br>Dutch 5 <br>Farsi 33 <br>Finnish 1 <br>French 14 <br>Georgian 1 <br>German 40 <br>Greek 4 <br>Hebrew 1 <br>Hindi 20 <br>Indonesian 4 <br>Italian 23 <br>Japanese 33 <br>Korean 8 <br>Macedonian 1 <br>Mandarin 93 <br>Norwegian 1 <br>Pashto 5 <br>Polish 3 <br>Portuguese 47 <br>Romanian 3 <br>Russian 84 <br>Serbian 3 <br>Sinhalese 1 <br>Slovak 1 <br>Slovene 1 <br>Spanish 153 <br>Swedish 3 <br>Tajik 1 <br>Thai 2 <br>Tigrinya 1 <br>Turkish 11 <br>Turkmen 1 <br>Urdu 4 <br>Uzbek 2 <br>Vietnamese 2 <br>Total 813</p> answering member printed Baroness Anelay of St Johns question first answered 03/11/2014 15:37:02 answering member 3474 label Biography information for Baroness Anelay of St Johns
tabling member	3829 label Biography information for Baroness Coussins

100639

registered interest
date	23/10/2014
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
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what further steps they are taking to recognise Palestine as a state after the recent debate in the House of Commons.
tabling member printed	Lord Ahmed
uin	HL2370
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>The UK’s position on Palestinian recognition has not changed and is clear: we reserve the right to recognise a Palestinian state at a time of our choosing and when it will best help bring about peace. The UK is a longstanding supporter of seeing a sovereign, democratic and viable Palestinian State living side by side in peace and security with Israel, and continues to be one of the largest donors to Palestinian state building efforts to that end.</p> answering member printed Baroness Anelay of St Johns question first answered 03/11/2014 15:37:46 answering member 3474 label Biography information for Baroness Anelay of St Johns
tabling member	3470 label Biography information for Lord Ahmed

100647

registered interest
date	23/10/2014
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	Iran
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the Iranian authorities regarding Ghoncheh Ghavami.
tabling member printed	Lord Kennedy of Southwark
uin	HL2378
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>The Government has raised its concern at the detention of Ghoncheh Ghavami with the Iranian authorities on many occasions, including most recently on 23 October. Both the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), and the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), discussed her case with President Rouhani and Foreign minister Zarif respectively in September. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office continues to provide consular assistance to Ms Ghavami’s family at this difficult time.</p> answering member printed Baroness Anelay of St Johns question first answered 03/11/2014 15:38:31 answering member 3474 label Biography information for Baroness Anelay of St Johns
tabling member	4153 label Biography information for Lord Kennedy of Southwark

100649

registered interest
date	23/10/2014
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	Egypt
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the Egyptian authorities regarding Yara Sallam.
tabling member printed	Lord Kennedy of Southwark
uin	HL2380
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>Government representatives from our Embassy in Cairo are closely monitoring cases where prosecutions have been made under the protest law in Egypt. We have called on the Egyptian government to review the Protest Law and have raised specific cases with them, including during the visit by Foreign Minister Shoukry to the UK on 27 October. The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), asked that the Egyptian government address the large number of people being held in detention during his meeting with President Al-Sisi at the UN General Assembly in New York on 23 September. The Government believes that freedom of expression, including the right to protest peacefully, is vital in any democracy.</p> answering member printed Baroness Anelay of St Johns question first answered 03/11/2014 15:39:52 answering member 3474 label Biography information for Baroness Anelay of St Johns
tabling member	4153 label Biography information for Lord Kennedy of Southwark

100651

registered interest
date	23/10/2014
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	Zimbabwe
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the situation for women in Zimbabwe.
tabling member printed	Lord Kennedy of Southwark
uin	HL2382
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text While laws exist to protect the economic rights of women in Zimbabwe, they are frequently undermined by discriminatory practices, customary law and lack of implementation. In politics, it should be noted that there is a relatively high proportion of females in Parliament. However, women and girls are also disproportionately affected by fragile basic service provision and crumbling infrastructure. The Department for International Development’s programme in Zimbabwe continues to support progress on issues affecting women through work on economic and political empowerment, water and sanitation, health and education and skills development. answering member printed Baroness Anelay of St Johns question first answered 03/11/2014 15:43:30 answering member 3474 label Biography information for Baroness Anelay of St Johns
tabling member	4153 label Biography information for Lord Kennedy of Southwark

100703

registered interest
date	23/10/2014
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	Malaysia
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 he plans to take to encourage the authorities in Malaysia to prosecute effectively violations of fundamental freedoms of religion.
tabling member constituency	Belfast North
tabling member printed	Mr Nigel Dodds
uin	211671
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2014 answer text <p>The UK supports freedom of religion and belief and the rights of minorities to practice their faith. We are aware of concerns in Malaysia about rising acts of religious intolerance and we regularly raise the issue of freedom of religion with the Malaysian authorities.</p><p>Freedom of religion was at the heart of my right hon. and noble Friend the former Minister of State's (Baroness Warsi's) visit to Malaysia in April this year. She had wide-ranging meetings on this issue, including with the Malaysian Prime Minister, and made a major speech setting out the UK position. We also pursue the importance of observing religious freedoms through Parliamentary and experts visits and through multi-lateral mechanisms, such as the EU and the UN. Our High Commission in Kuala Lumpur also speaks regularly to Malaysian civil society and faith groups to understand the context better.</p> answering member constituency East Devon answering member printed Mr Hugo Swire question first answered 29/10/2014 14:43:52 answering member 1408 label Biography information for Lord Swire
tabling member	1388 label Biography information for Lord Dodds of Duncairn

100704

registered interest
date	23/10/2014
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	Conflict Prevention
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 effectiveness and outcomes of the Building Stability Overseas Strategy.
tabling member constituency	Lagan Valley
tabling member printed	Mr Jeffrey M. Donaldson
uin	211690
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2014 answer text Progress on the implementation of the Building Stability Overseas Strategy (BSOS) – including through the Conflict Pool – has been reported to Parliament annually since 2011. Progress includes: the achievement of 30% of DFID spending going to fragile states; establishment of cross-HMG strategies for priority fragile or conflict-affected States; the implementation of a cross-HMG tool to analyse drivers of conflict; and changes made to the Conflict Pool to reflect the challenges of spending in high-risk environments, including multi-year funding and the introduction of a dedicated crisis response Early Action Facility (EAF). Once the Conflict Pool comes to a close at the end of FY14/15 the FCO, MOD and DFID will commission an external review, covering the three-year Conflict Pool results framework. This report will be published once completed. The BSOS will continue to be one of the key policy drivers for UK activity in fragile states including under the new Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF), which builds on the success of the Conflict Pool and replaces it from financial year 2015/16. As well as responding to crises, the CSSF will also ensure longer term conflict prevention work to tackle the root causes of conflict abroad. answering member constituency Bournemouth East answering member printed Mr Tobias Ellwood question first answered 29/10/2014 16:30:24 answering member 1487 label Biography information for Mr Tobias Ellwood
tabling member	650 label Biography information for Sir Jeffrey M Donaldson

100705

registered interest
date	23/10/2014
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	Conflict Prevention
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 Cabinet colleagues on the future of the Building Stability Overseas Strategy; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Lagan Valley
tabling member printed	Mr Jeffrey M. Donaldson
uin	211691
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2014 answer text <p>The Building Stability Overseas Strategy (BSOS), published by the Coalition Government in 2011, set out a new strategic framework for cross-Government work to prevent conflict and build stability in fragile states focussing on better early warning, rapid response, upstream conflict prevention and working with international partners. The BSOS remains one of the Government’s key policy frameworks for activity in fragile states including under the new Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF), which builds on the success of the Conflict Pool, and replaces it from Financial Year 2015/16. Priorities for the Fund will be set by the National Security Council to ensure a strengthened cross-departmental approach that draws on the most effective combination of defence, diplomacy, development assistance, security and intelligence. This will include funding to ensure the UK can respond quickly to crises. It will also ensure longer term conflict prevention work to tackle the root causes of conflict abroad.</p> answering member constituency Bournemouth East answering member printed Mr Tobias Ellwood question first answered 29/10/2014 16:31:57 answering member 1487 label Biography information for Mr Tobias Ellwood
tabling member	650 label Biography information for Sir Jeffrey M Donaldson

100803

registered interest
date	23/10/2014
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	Languages: Education
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much his Department spent on language training in each year since 2010.
tabling member constituency	North Durham
tabling member printed	Mr Kevan Jones
uin	211814
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/10/2014 answer text <p>Following the closure of the language centre under the previous Government, the former Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right Hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks.) (Mr Hague), restablished one in 2013. Fulltime language training (FTLT) is provided for all officers going overseas where the ability to communicate effectively in another language is considered essential to meet the requirements of their role. Training is provided to either C1 operational level or C2 Extensive level depending on the job requirements. The FCO also provides language training to A2 Confidence level to staff and their spouses/partners being posted overseas into non speaker roles. In 2012 the FCO also introduced a developmental language training programme to enable all staff to learn a new language or maintain existing language skills. The table below summarises the annual spend on all three language training programmes since 2010. Essential fulltime language training includes a period of training overseas. Research has shown that the experience of immersing themselves in a new language and culture makes a huge difference to students’ learning and their future effectiveness in their job. The associated costs of immersion are shown in Row B. Financial Year 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 (forecast) A: Language Training costs only 2,034,609 2,231,436 2,350,730 2,999,781 3,223,107 3,242,509 B: Associated costs (e.g. travel, accommodation etc) 418,964 772,472 626,807 385,895 682,257 782,720 C: Total spend 2,453,573 3,003,908 2,977,537 3,385,676 3,905,364 4,025,229</p> answering member constituency Bournemouth East answering member printed Mr Tobias Ellwood question first answered 30/10/2014 14:48:35 answering member 1487 label Biography information for Mr Tobias Ellwood
tabling member	1438 label Biography information for Mr Kevan Jones