Asked by: Charlotte Leslie (Conservative - Bristol North West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the human rights situation in Iran.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The human rights situation in Iran continues to cause great concern, in particular its use of the death penalty and the restrictions on freedom of expression and belief. Although President Rouhani pledged to improve the rights and freedoms of the citizens of Iran when he was elected, we are yet to see concrete improvements.
Asked by: Charlotte Leslie (Conservative - Bristol North West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the human rights situation in Camp Liberty, Iraq.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
We remain concerned about the residents of Camp Liberty. Our Embassy in Baghdad regularly raises this issue with the Government of Iraq and we support the United Nations’ calls for more to be done to protect residents. We are working with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to relocate all the residents to safe third countries.
That being said, Monitors from the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) regularly visit Camp Liberty and issue daily reports which provide an update on the situation there. Their assessment remains that the provision of life support systems such as water, electricity and food continue to be well in excess of basic humanitarian standards. They have reported that the relocation of protective bunkers and installation of additional protective concrete walls, to increase the security and safety of the residents, has been completed. Iraqi government officials have reported that diesel tankers and trucks containing food and other supplies continue to routinely enter the camp, that residents continue to be referred to hospitals and that the clinic remains in operation. Residents’ representatives have confirmed this to be accurate.
Asked by: Charlotte Leslie (Conservative - Bristol North West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many people of each (a) ethnicity, (b) religion and (c) occupation have received an honorary knighthood in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by James Duddridge
The following table provides the available information on all recipients of an honorary knighthood in each of the last ten years, including the range of their occupations and their nationalities.
Nominators are given the opportunity to provide information on ethnicity of the person they are nominating, but rarely do. Information on the religion of honours nominees or recipients is not collected.
[See attachment]
Asked by: Charlotte Leslie (Conservative - Bristol North West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment the Honours Committee has made of the potential merits of granting an honorary knighthood to Muhammad Ali.
Answered by James Duddridge
Honours nominations are treated on a confidential basis to maintain the integrity of the honours system and the privacy of the individuals nominated. Honours Committees and Secretariats therefore do not comment on nominations. Anyone can nominate someone for an honour. Nominations are considered twice a year by a series of honours committees which consist of independent and official members.
Asked by: Charlotte Leslie (Conservative - Bristol North West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many officials of his Department undertook language classes at (a) his Department and (b) post in (i) 2001 and (ii) 2010.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
I refer my rt hon. Friend to my answer of 10 February 2016 set out in PQ 25525.Asked by: Charlotte Leslie (Conservative - Bristol North West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many (a) Arabic speakers with an operational level (C1) examination pass and (b) Mandarin Cantonese speakers were employed by his Department in (i) 2001 and (ii) 2010.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
I refer my rt hon. Friend to my answer of 10 February 2016 (PQ 25484).
Asked by: Charlotte Leslie (Conservative - Bristol North West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many officials of his Department had an operational level (C1) examination pass in which languages in (a) 2001 and (b) 2010.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
I refer my right hon. Friend to my answers of 10 February 2016 (PQs 23665 and 25484). We only record current C1 passes, valid for five years after the date of the exam, and therefore do not have pre-2010 data.
Asked by: Charlotte Leslie (Conservative - Bristol North West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many officials in his Department have undertaken Foreign and Commonwealth Office language classes in each year from 2006.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
In 2014 there were 255 officers in full time language training with an additional 332 officers and/ or spouses attending part time language classes. In 2015 there were 332 officers in full time language training and 767 officers/spouses following part time language classes. To provide statistics for the years 2006-2013 would incur disproportionate costs.Asked by: Charlotte Leslie (Conservative - Bristol North West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2016 to Question 23665, how many (a) Arabic speakers with an Operational level (C1) examination pass and (b) Mandarin/Cantonese speakers there were employed in his Department in each year since 2006.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
Records from the last five years show that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has 51 officers who have a current Operational Level (C1) Arabic pass and 44 officers with a C1 pass in Mandarin/ Cantonese. We only record current C1 passes, valid for five years after the date of the exam, and therefore do not have pre-2010 data.
Asked by: Charlotte Leslie (Conservative - Bristol North West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what proportion of total postings and how many ambassadors have held Operational level (C1) examination passes in the official language of the country to which they were posted in each year since 2006.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
We appointed 53 Ambassadors in 2015. Of these 24 were appointed to speaker slots and 10 have an Operational level C1 examination pass. The FCO Language Centre was re-opened in September 2013 to renew the focus and investment in languages as a core diplomatic skill to ensure that we get the right people with the right skills in the right jobs to deliver our foreign policy objectives. The Language Centre gives us a strong platform to grow our language skills as an organisation and develop a pipeline of talent to fill language slots on a continuous basis. To provide statistics for the years 2006-14 would incur disproportionate cost.