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1312478

registered interest
date	27/04/2021
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Afghanistan: Refugees
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy will be administered solely by UK Embassy staff or whether any provision for its delivery will be contracted out to private companies.
tabling member printed	Baroness Coussins
uin	HL15281
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2021 answer text <p>The Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy is an MOD owned policy which is jointly administered by the MOD, Home Office and FCDO. Initial contact will be with the expert in theatre team, with assistance from officials from the other Government departments named above at different stages of the process. The delivery of the scheme is supported in Kabul by the International Office Of Migration who facilitate some of the in-country activity. Currently HMG has no plans for private companies to support.</p> answering member printed Baroness Goldie question first answered 29/04/2021 12:38:37 answering member 4306 label Biography information for Baroness Goldie
tabling member	3829 label Biography information for Baroness Coussins

1312479

registered interest
date	27/04/2021
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Afghanistan: Interpreters
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they keep a contact database of all locally employed civilian interpreters who have worked for UK Armed Forces in Afghanistan.
tabling member printed	Baroness Coussins
uin	HL15282
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2021 answer text <p>Due to the time elapsed since employment, and the security vulnerabilities inherent in using contact details that are over a decade old in some cases, we do not and cannot maintain a contact database of all locally employed staff who have worked for UK Armed Forces in Afghanistan. Our locally employed civilian interpreters are able to contact us through our dedicated team the Afghanistan Threat and Risk Evaluation Unit (ATREU) with the contact details available on the gov.uk website.</p> answering member printed Baroness Goldie question first answered 29/04/2021 12:39:05 answering member 4306 label Biography information for Baroness Goldie
tabling member	3829 label Biography information for Baroness Coussins

1312480

registered interest
date	27/04/2021
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Afghanistan: Interpreters
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) interpreters, and (2) members of interpreters' families, have been relocated from Afghanistan to the UK under the (a) ex gratia redundancy scheme, and (b) intimidation policy.
tabling member printed	Baroness Coussins
uin	HL15283
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2021 answer text <p>A total of 448 locally employed staff and 910 family members have been relocated from Afghanistan to the UK, 1,358 in total. Of those, all but six were interpreters. Four were relocated under the Intimidation Policy, one under the new Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy which came into force on 1 April 2021, and the remainder under the Ex-Gratia Scheme.</p><p>The Intimidation Policy closed on 31 March 2021. It was replaced by the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy on 1 April 2021 and one relocation has taken place so far under that scheme.</p> answering member printed Baroness Goldie question first answered 28/04/2021 16:55:04 answering member 4306 label Biography information for Baroness Goldie
tabling member	3829 label Biography information for Baroness Coussins

1312481

registered interest
date	27/04/2021
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Afghanistan: Interpreters
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) interpreters, and (2) members of interpreters' families, have been accepted for relocation but have not yet been relocated under the (a) ex gratia redundancy scheme, and (b) the intimidation policy; and when they expect that they will be relocated.
tabling member printed	Baroness Coussins
uin	HL15284
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2021 answer text <p>A total of 104 former locally employed staff are eligible for relocation under the Ex-Gratia Scheme and are still in the process of being relocated. All but two are interpreters. We cannot comment with certainty on the number of family members, because some of the eligible applicants are not yet at the stage of the process where this is known.</p><p>The Intimidation Policy closed on 31 March 2021. It was replaced by the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy on 01 April 2021. There are no outstanding relocations under the Intimidation Policy.</p><p>A total of 107 current and former locally employed staff are eligible for relocation under the new Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy and are still in the process of being relocated. Most are interpreters. We cannot comment with certainty on the number of family members, because some of the eligible applicants are not yet at the stage of the process where this is known. I expect that these former and current locally employed staff and their families will be relocated before 11 September 2021.</p> answering member printed Baroness Goldie question first answered 28/04/2021 16:46:32 answering member 4306 label Biography information for Baroness Goldie
tabling member	3829 label Biography information for Baroness Coussins

1312482

registered interest
date	27/04/2021
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Afghanistan: Interpreters
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many locally employed civilian interpreters who (1) have previously worked, or (2) currently work, for the UK Armed Forces (a) remain in Afghanistan, and (b) have fled to a third country.
tabling member printed	Baroness Coussins
uin	HL15285
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2021 answer text <p>UK Armed Forces do not currently employ any locally employed civilian interpreters in Afghanistan. Of those locally employed civilian interpreters who previously worked for UK Armed Forces, we do not hold any information on how many remain in Afghanistan; it would be impossible to maintain such a record, as it would require regular updates from those who left employment with us between four and 20 years ago. Our locally employed civilian interpreters do not update us as to their whereabouts. Of those locally employed civilian interpreters who previously worked for UK Armed Forces, we are aware of 15 who are currently in a third country. Not all would be eligible for relocation even if they in Afghanistan.</p> answering member printed Baroness Goldie question first answered 28/04/2021 16:51:43 answering member 4306 label Biography information for Baroness Goldie
tabling member	3829 label Biography information for Baroness Coussins

1309902

registered interest
date	16/04/2021
answering body	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept id	208
answering dept short name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
hansard heading	Voluntary Service Overseas: Finance
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect to make a long-term decision on the funding for Voluntary Service Overseas.
tabling member printed	Baroness Coussins
uin	HL14990
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2021 answer text <p>The Foreign Secretary announced that we would provide funding to <strong>Voluntary Service Overseas</strong> (VSO) this year in his statement on ODA allocations to Parliament on 21 April. We have offered VSO funding for the V4D programme until the end of this financial year 2021/22. Officials have also started discussions with VSO on our future relationship.</p> answering member printed Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park question first answered 29/04/2021 12:17:42 answering member 4062 label Biography information for Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
tabling member	3829 label Biography information for Baroness Coussins

1309903

registered interest
date	16/04/2021
answering body	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept id	208
answering dept short name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
hansard heading	Voluntary Service Overseas: Grants
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 impact of the expiry of the bridging grant for Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) on (1) international volunteering, and (2) VSO's, programmes.
tabling member printed	Baroness Coussins
uin	HL14991
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2021 answer text <p>The Foreign Secretary has announced that we will provide funding to Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) this year in his statement on ODA allocations to Parliament on 21 April. We have offered VSO funding for the V4D programme for 2021/22.</p> answering member printed Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park question first answered 29/04/2021 12:42:41 answering member 4062 label Biography information for Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
tabling member	3829 label Biography information for Baroness Coussins

1288432

registered interest
date	22/02/2021
answering body	Department for Education
answering dept id	60
answering dept short name	Education
answering dept sort name	Education
hansard heading	Languages: Education
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the effectiveness, and (2) the impact of, Modern Foreign Language Hubs; and if no such assessment has been made, (a) whether they plan to conduct such an assessment, and (b) if so, when.
tabling member printed	Baroness Coussins
uin	HL13380
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/03/2021 answer text <p>The National Centre for Excellence for Language Pedagogy (NCELP) programme was established with its main aims being to provide support to secondary schools to improve languages teaching at Key Stages 3 and 4, and to align modern foreign language (MFL) teaching with the recommendations of the Teaching Schools Council’s 2016 MFL Pedagogy Review. This was done so that in pilot schools more pupils will take up GCSEs in MFLs, and schools are enabled to achieve sustainable numbers and group sizes. Key performance indicators (KPIs) were agreed between NCELP and the department which link to these objectives.</p><p>As a consequence of school closures over the last year, and NCELP diverting much of its resource to assist the Oak National Academy by developing and recording Key Stage 3 lessons in French, German and Spanish, we have deferred our assessment of performance against KPIs until after December 2021. However, the information gathered to date shows that:</p><ul><li>92.6% of all teachers taking part in the pilot reported in September 2020 that they were confident in delivering the MFL pedagogical approach as described in the 2016 MFL Pedagogy Review produced by the Teaching Schools Council; and</li><li>Uptake of MFL GCSEs in the participating schools has increased by 8.2 percentage points between 2018 and 2020.</li></ul><p>In the meantime, NCELP is on course to have completed work developing online resources for teaching and testing in French, German and Spanish in Key Stage 3 by December 2021, which are available free of charge for all MFL teachers at: <a href="https://resources.ncelp.org" target="_blank">https://resources.ncelp.org</a>.</p> answering member printed Baroness Berridge question first answered 09/03/2021 11:27:12 answering member 4218 label Biography information for Baroness Berridge
tabling member	3829 label Biography information for Baroness Coussins

1283718

registered interest
date	03/02/2021
answering body	Women and Equalities
answering dept id	31
answering dept short name	Women and Equalities
answering dept sort name	Women and Equalities
hansard heading	Coronavirus: Public Health
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, since the publication of their report Quarterly Report on progress to address COVID-19 health inequalities on 22 October 2020, what (1) actions have been taken, and (2) progress has been made, in relation to implementing Recommendation 12 of that report, regarding public health advice in languages other than English.
tabling member printed	Baroness Coussins
uin	HL12936
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/02/2021 answer text <p>The Government has made significant progress in implementing Recommendation 12 and addressing COVID-19 health inequalities. This includes regularly translating public health communications into other languages and formats, including Easy Read, and working with local authorities to translate assets according to local need. Translated materials are routinely shared in editable formats so they can be useful by as wide an audience as possible.</p><p>The Minister for Equalities will shortly be publishing her second quarterly progress report to the Prime Minister and the Health Secretary, which will include a more detailed update against this and the other recommendations from her report of 22 October.</p> answering member printed Baroness Berridge question first answered 22/02/2021 15:53:25 answering member 4218 label Biography information for Baroness Berridge
tabling member	3829 label Biography information for Baroness Coussins

1277393

registered interest
date	18/01/2021
answering body	Ministry of Defence
answering dept id	11
answering dept short name	Defence
answering dept sort name	Defence
hansard heading	Afghanistan: Interpreters
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the report by the International Relations and Defence Committee The UK and Afghanistan, published on 13 January (HL Paper 208), and the recommendation that "all Afghan interpreters who worked for the UK military, including those now resident in third countries, [should be]...able to access the provisions of the ex-gratia scheme", whether they plan to consider applications for relocation to the UK from former interpreters in third countries; and if not, why not.
tabling member printed	Baroness Coussins
uin	HL12200
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/01/2021 answer text <p>The ex-gratia scheme and intimidation policy currently available for Afghan locally engaged staff (LES), along with the Relocations and Assistance Scheme to be introduced later this year, require applicants to be in Afghanistan where they are likely to face the greatest risk. The Government keeps the Immigration Rules under regular review, and officials from the Ministry of Defence continue to work with the Home Office to consider options to support those under threat. We will always consider exceptionally compelling and compassionate circumstances on a case-by-case basis.</p> answering member printed Baroness Goldie question first answered 26/01/2021 17:02:14 answering member 4306 label Biography information for Baroness Goldie
tabling member	3829 label Biography information for Baroness Coussins