Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking with international counterparts to protect global populations from damage caused by negligent exploitation of natural resources by private companies.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Good governance is essential if national economies and local communities in developing countries are to benefit from the exploitation of natural resources, such as mineral reserves and timber. This is necessary to ensure that revenues from natural resources are invested to support education, health and economic development and to ensure that natural resources provide jobs and benefits to local communities. For example, in the forest sector, the UK supports efforts to tackle illegal logging and promote trade in legal timber in global timber markets. UK support provided through the Forest Governance, Markets and Climate programme (£280 million, 2011-23) ensures that illegal timber is eliminated from supply chains in countries with valuable forest resources, that the rights of local forest-dependent communities are respected and that companies in the timber industry are held accountable for their actions.
The UK also works to promote reform in industries which are closely associated with the destruction of natural resources, such as forests and encourage companies to operate in ways that reflect best practice. For example, through Partnerships for Forests (£120 million, 2015-23), the UK supports public-private partnerships with companies operating in the palm oil, rubber, cocoa, coffee, soya and cattle industries, which are helping to protect and restore forests, provide local jobs and livelihoods and ensure recognition and respect for local community rights. This work is helping to drive bad practice out of these industries and protect local communities and global populations from the damage caused by deforestation.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help (a) support human rights in Brazil and (b) tackle the effects on Brazilians of the exploitation of natural resources by private companies in that country.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The UK regularly engages with the Brazilian government, civil society organisations and other partners to monitor human rights developments and respect for the rule of law in Brazil. We consider human rights issues in the development and implementation of projects supported by our Embassy in Brazil.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has had recent discussions with her Brazilian counterpart on support provided to Brazil to help with recovery from the Mariana dam disaster in 2015.
Answered by Vicky Ford
British diplomats have, in partnership with UN Environment Programme, been promoting the new Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM) that brings together key stakeholders in the mining sector including Brazil's Federal and State Government, academia, UK specialists and civil society to address and discuss the safety of Brazilian dams. The Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs has not raised the 2015 Mariana dam disaster with her Brazilian counterpart.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has issued advice against the recommendation of lawyers or officials in her Department to the Department for International Trade on the issuance of arms licences for export of arms and services to Saudi Arabia.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Government takes its strategic export control responsibilities very seriously. The Government will not grant an export licence if to do so would be inconsistent with the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria, including respect for human rights and international humanitarian law. All licences are kept under careful and continual review as standard.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will take diplomatic steps to encourage the 119 countries who signed the United Nations General Assembly resolution on the 18 June 2021, which calls upon all member states to prevent the flow of arms into Myanmar, to put unilateral arms embargoes in place.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The UK is a longstanding supporter of an arms embargo on Myanmar. The UK helped secure an EU arms embargo on Myanmar following the 2017 Rohingya crisis. On 18 June 2021, the UK worked to secure an unprecedented UN General Assembly Resolution, signed up to by 119 countries, which committed to preventing the flow of arms to Myanmar.
We coordinated a joint statement on the one year anniversary of the February 2021 coup with 36 signatories which reiterated support for Myanmar's democratic transition, called for an end to violence and to cease the sale and transfer of arms. We also have extensive targeted sanctions on the military and its business interests, including on multiple institutions responsible for procuring weapons from abroad. We are working closely with partners on next steps, including securing further commitments from the international community on the transfer of arms, equipment and spare parts to the military.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many communications staff are employed (a) full time (b) part time and (c) with flexible working arrangements in her Department.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The number of staff working in FCDO to deliver the communications functions currently is between 90 and 99 full time and fewer than 10 part-time staff. Data about individual staff members working patterns are not held centrally.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much her Department spends on the employment of communications staff annually.
Answered by Vicky Ford
Expenditure on communications staffing in this financial year is expected to be £9 million.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will publish the total cost of all air travel during her visit to Australia between 18 and 23 January 2022, including internal flights within that country.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
In accordance with the Ministerial Code, the FCDO publishes the costs related to all overseas Ministerial travel as part of the regular Cabinet Office Transparency Return https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/minister-data#2020.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of establishing a Peace Institute associated with the work of her Department.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
As outlined in the Integrated Review (IR), the UK is committed to working to reduce the frequency and intensity of conflict and instability. The FCDO's Conflict Directorate, formed in response to this IR commitment, will support a more integrated HMG approach, and include provision of a specialist capability on peace process and mediation support. The UK has a vibrant and expert community of peacebuilding organisations, academics and practitioners. In line with the IR, the FCDO will seek to draw upon expertise from across this UK-based community and the wider sector globally.
Asked by: Alyn Smith (Scottish National Party - Stirling)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has requested an investigation into the recent attack on water reservoirs in Sa'ada city in Yemen to assess whether UK-licenced weapons were used.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
We are looking into reports of airstrikes affecting water infrastructure in Sa'ada governorate, Yemen, on 11 January. We urge all parties to the Yemen conflict to exercise restraint and avoid further civilian impact and suffering. The Government takes its strategic export control responsibilities very seriously. The Government will not grant an export licence if to do so would be inconsistent with the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria, including respect for human rights and international humanitarian law. All licences are kept under careful and continual review as standard.