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712945

registered interest
date	21/03/2017
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: Overseas Workers
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 members of his Department's staff employed in overseas roles were based in the Russian and Eastern Europe region in each year since 2010; and how many such staff were in roles requiring the ability to speak a local language.
tabling member constituency	Islington South and Finsbury
tabling member printed	Emily Thornberry
uin	68753
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/03/2017 answer text <p>The following numbers of UK-based staff were employed in overseas roles in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region (including Russia) in each Financial Year since 2012/13. As reported in the 2012/13 FCO Annual Report and Accounts on page 29 in February 2013, the FCO realigned previous staffing figures to better reflect guidance issued by the Office of National Statistics, for example it excluded all staff working for the UK Border Agency (UKBA) overseas, and staff working for Wilton Park and FCO Services. This means that we are unable to provide reliable comparable figures prior to this date.</p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>​</p></td><td><p>​</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012/13</p></td><td><p>89</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013/14</p></td><td><p>74</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014/15</p></td><td><p>74</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015/16</p></td><td><p>76</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016/17</p></td><td><p>77</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>​</p></td><td><p>​</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>The number of designated language speaker slots in this region was as follows.</p><p>2014/15 50</p><p>2015/16 57</p><p>2016/17 61</p> answering member constituency Uxbridge and South Ruislip answering member printed Boris Johnson question first answered 27/03/2017 14:48:54 answering member 1423 label Biography information for Boris Johnson
tabling member	1536 label Biography information for Emily Thornberry

712947

registered interest
date	21/03/2017
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	Armed Conflict: Sexual Offences
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 plans to commit new research funding to the UK National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security to support the Government's commitment to the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict initiative.
tabling member constituency	North Durham
tabling member printed	Mr Kevan Jones
uin	68807
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/03/2017 answer text <p>The Government is committed to producing the next UK National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security, in a focused, consultative and inclusive way. While HMG funding on Women, Peace and Security is focused on the implementation rather than the production of the UK National Action Plan, we have provided funding to enable civil society consultations in four focus countries and we are working with partners to ensure UK civil society and academic views are taken into account in the revision of the UK National Action Plan. The Government has funded an external, independent evaluation of the current UK National Action Plan, which will make recommendations for the next iteration of the plan for the next financial year to include research on stigma and preventing sexual violence against men and boys. This is part of our on-going efforts to produce an evidence base to inform and shape our Women, Peace and Security policy and more broadly on Gender Equality/Women and Girls, where there is a wide volume of funding for research, including through DFID funding.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma question first answered 24/03/2017 14:53:45 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma
tabling member	1438 label Biography information for Mr Kevan Jones

712948

registered interest
date	21/03/2017
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, Stability and Security Fund
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 funding Women's security-related projects in (a) Afghanistan, (b) Bosnia, (c) Kosovo, (d) the Democratic Republic of Congo, (e) Somalia and (f) South Sudan received from the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund in each year between 2008 and 2015.
tabling member constituency	North Durham
tabling member printed	Mr Kevan Jones
uin	68724
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/03/2017 answer text <p>The Conflict Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) only started in April 2015. The table attached gives a breakdown of Women, Peace and Security-related projects in (a) Afghanistan, (b) Bosnia, (c) Kosovo, (d) the Democratic Republic of Congo, (e) Somalia and (f) South Sudan including their funding allocations by financial year.</p><p>The CSSF recognises at its core the importance of mainstreaming gender in all CSSF funded interventions. We do this, for example, by ensuring all programmes are compliant with the Gender Equality Act through requiring the design of all programmes to pay due consideration to the impact on gender equality . Examples of such projects include &quot;Increasing access and participation of Women in the political process in Bosnia&quot; and &quot;Afghanistan, the Security Sector and Peace Building Programme&quot; which supports the participation of women in the Afghan national police force.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma grouped question UIN 68722 68723 question first answered 24/03/2017 14:54:54 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma attachment 1 file name Table for gender pq (2).docx title Table
tabling member	1438 label Biography information for Mr Kevan Jones

712950

registered interest
date	21/03/2017
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, Stability and Security Fund
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 funding Women, Peace and Security-related projects in (a) Afghanistan, (b) Bosnia, (c) Kosovo, (d) the Democratic Republic of Congo, (e) Somalia and (f) South Sudan received from the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund in (i) 2015-16 and (ii) 2016-17.
tabling member constituency	North Durham
tabling member printed	Mr Kevan Jones
uin	68722
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/03/2017 answer text <p>The Conflict Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) only started in April 2015. The table attached gives a breakdown of Women, Peace and Security-related projects in (a) Afghanistan, (b) Bosnia, (c) Kosovo, (d) the Democratic Republic of Congo, (e) Somalia and (f) South Sudan including their funding allocations by financial year.</p><p>The CSSF recognises at its core the importance of mainstreaming gender in all CSSF funded interventions. We do this, for example, by ensuring all programmes are compliant with the Gender Equality Act through requiring the design of all programmes to pay due consideration to the impact on gender equality . Examples of such projects include &quot;Increasing access and participation of Women in the political process in Bosnia&quot; and &quot;Afghanistan, the Security Sector and Peace Building Programme&quot; which supports the participation of women in the Afghan national police force.</p> answering member constituency Reading West answering member printed Alok Sharma grouped question UIN 68723 68724 question first answered 24/03/2017 14:54:54 answering member 4014 label Biography information for Sir Alok Sharma attachment 1 file name Table for gender pq (2).docx title Table
tabling member	1438 label Biography information for Mr Kevan Jones

712951

registered interest
date	21/03/2017
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	Andargachew Tsege
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 assessment he has made of the merits of negotiating Andy Tsege's return to the UK.
tabling member constituency	Bristol East
tabling member printed	Kerry McCarthy
uin	68719
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/03/2017 answer text <p>We currently consider calling for his release would risk the progress we have made in his case, including legal access and our own access to him. Our consular priorities continue to be Mr Tsege's wellbeing, his access to legal representation, and to ensure that the death sentence is not carried out. We keep our case strategy under regular review.</p> answering member constituency Bournemouth East answering member printed Mr Tobias Ellwood question first answered 27/03/2017 11:54:25 answering member 1487 label Biography information for Mr Tobias Ellwood previous answer version 42241 answering member constituency Bournemouth East answering member printed Mr Tobias Ellwood answering member 1487 label Biography information for Mr Tobias Ellwood
tabling member	1491 label Biography information for Kerry McCarthy

712952

registered interest
date	21/03/2017
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	Saudi Arabia: Prisoners
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 representations he has made to his Arabian counterpart on the cases of Ali Mohammed al-Nimr, Dawood al-Marhoon and Abdullah al-Zaher.
tabling member constituency	Richmond Park
tabling member printed	Sarah Olney
uin	68731
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/03/2017 answer text <p>​The UK remains concerned about cases of Ali Mohammed al-Nimr, Dawood al-Marhoon and Abdullah al-Zaher. Our Embassy in Riyadh last raised the three men's cases on 19 January 2017 and our expectation remains that they will not be executed. We will continue to closely follow their cases.</p> answering member constituency Bournemouth East answering member printed Mr Tobias Ellwood question first answered 29/03/2017 16:02:08 answering member 1487 label Biography information for Mr Tobias Ellwood
tabling member	4591 label Biography information for Sarah Olney

712953

registered interest
date	21/03/2017
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 of his Department's staff passed a language examination at (a) Extensive, (b) Operational, (c) Functional and (d) Confidence levels in each year since 2010.
tabling member constituency	Islington South and Finsbury
tabling member printed	Emily Thornberry
uin	68749
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/03/2017 answer text <p>​In 2013, the FCO designated all speaker slots across the network as minimum C1 Operational level. This is equivalent to degree level. Officers no longer take exams at Functional/ Intermediate or Confidence levels.</p><p> </p><p>The number of officers who have passed the exams at the requested levels is as follows:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>C1/C2</p></td><td><p>Functional</p></td><td><p>Confidence</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010</p></td><td><p>100</p></td><td><p>57</p></td><td><p>119</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011</p></td><td><p>96</p></td><td><p>57</p></td><td><p>118</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012</p></td><td><p>111</p></td><td><p>78</p></td><td><p>108</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013</p></td><td><p>90</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014</p></td><td><p>126</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2015</p></td><td><p>121</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016</p></td><td><p>154</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p> answering member constituency Uxbridge and South Ruislip answering member printed Boris Johnson question first answered 27/03/2017 14:27:53 answering member 1423 label Biography information for Boris Johnson
tabling member	1536 label Biography information for Emily Thornberry

712954

registered interest
date	21/03/2017
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: Overseas Workers
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 members of staff his Department employs overseas in roles requiring an ability to speak the local language; in which countries such staff are based; and in which languages such staff are required to be proficient.
tabling member constituency	Islington South and Finsbury
tabling member printed	Emily Thornberry
uin	68750
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/03/2017 answer text <p>​As of February 2017, the FCO has 648 speaker slots across 111 countries. Officers in speaker slots complete a period of full time language training in advance of taking up their role overseas. This training enables officers to reach C1 Operational level (equivalent to degree level) in the language spoken in the country to which they are posted.</p><p>Currently 65 per cent of full-time language training is in 5 languages (Arabic, French, Mandarin, Russian, Spanish). In addition, along with Farsi, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Turkish, which are the other priority languages in our Priority Skills Statement, the figure increases to 80 per cent. Full-time language training is also provided in a further 36 languages.</p> answering member constituency Uxbridge and South Ruislip answering member printed Boris Johnson question first answered 27/03/2017 14:35:56 answering member 1423 label Biography information for Boris Johnson
tabling member	1536 label Biography information for Emily Thornberry

712955

registered interest
date	21/03/2017
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: Overseas Workers
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 members of staff his Department employs overseas in roles based in the Middle East and North Africa region in each year since 2010; and how many such staff were in roles requiring an ability to speak a local language.
tabling member constituency	Islington South and Finsbury
tabling member printed	Emily Thornberry
uin	68751
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/03/2017 answer text <p>The following numbers of UK-based staff were employed in overseas roles in the Middle East and North Africa region in each Financial Year since 2012/13. As reported in the 2012/13 FCO Annual Report and Accounts at page 29 in February 2013, the FCO realigned previous staffing figures to better reflect guidance issued by the Office of National Statistics, for example it excluded all staff working for the UK Border Agency (UKBA) overseas, and staff working for Wilton Park and FCO Services. This means that we are unable to provide reliable comparable figures prior to this date.</p><p>UK based staff positions in Middle East and North African posts:</p><p>2012/13 219</p><p>2103/14 197</p><p>2014/15 181</p><p>2015/16 219</p><p>28 Feb 2017 239</p><p>The numbers of speaker positions is as follows:</p><p>March 2015 78</p><p>March 2016 95</p><p>March 2017 93</p> answering member constituency Uxbridge and South Ruislip answering member printed Boris Johnson question first answered 27/03/2017 14:38:39 answering member 1423 label Biography information for Boris Johnson
tabling member	1536 label Biography information for Emily Thornberry

712956

registered interest
date	21/03/2017
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: Overseas Workers
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 and what proportion of staff employed by his Department overseas in roles requiring an ability to speak a local language are at the Target Level Attainment for that language.
tabling member constituency	Islington South and Finsbury
tabling member printed	Emily Thornberry
uin	68752
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/04/2017 answer text <p>The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has 527 roles occupied overseas where staff are required to speak the local language to at least degree level. As of February 2017, 54 per cent of staff in these roles have reached Target Level Attaintment of C1 (which equates to degree level) and have successfully passed the C1 exam. This equates to 287 officers across the network. This is an improvement of 15 per cent since December 2015.</p><p>The Foreign and Commonwealth Office expects all officers to have reached a minimum level of B2 before going overseas. This is equivalent to A-level. Officers at Post who have not reached their target level are expected to continue their language training with a view to taking the C1 exam within the first year of their posting.</p><p>All staff whose roles require an ability to speak the local language undergo a period of full time language training before their deployment overseas. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has recently implemented a series of measures to improve the Target Level Attainment, including measures to ensure officers complete their training before arrival at Post, as well as working with Directorates on succession planning for overseas roles which have a speaker requirement.</p> answering member constituency Uxbridge and South Ruislip answering member printed Boris Johnson question first answered 04/04/2017 11:25:13 answering member 1423 label Biography information for Boris Johnson previous answer version 42423 answering member constituency Uxbridge and South Ruislip answering member printed Boris Johnson answering member 1423 label Biography information for Boris Johnson
tabling member	1536 label Biography information for Emily Thornberry