Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much funding was allocated to the UK Government Communications Service International in each of the last five financial years; which were the top ten countries in which that money was spent during that time; and how much money was spent in each of those countries.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The FCDO has no recorded spend for UK Government Communications Service International. Any funding by FCDO toward this programme in the last five financial years will be minimal and not accounted for separately.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 15 May to Question 184326 on Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Corporate Governance, on which dates did the two meetings of his Department's Board in financial year 2021-22 take place.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The FCDO Supervisory Board met twice during the financial year 2021-22: on 16 June 2021 (chaired by the Rt Hon Dominic Raab) and on 25 March 2022 (chaired by the Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss). This information is available on page 104 of the FCDO's Annual Report and Accounts for 2021-22: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1095304/FCDO_Annual_Report_2021_2022_Accessible_290722.pdf
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 17 May 2023 to Question 184022 on Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Ministerial Boxes, how many times the decision was taken that a Minister in his Department could keep their red box as a memento of their time in their role between 1 May 2018 and 30 April 2023.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This information is not centrally held and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Ministerial red boxes are purchased by the minister if they wish to keep one and are never gifted for free. As I [Minister Rutley] stated in my previous reply, there is no explicit requirement for the FCDO to record instances where security features have been removed in order that they can be purchased for personal use by former ministers.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many ministerial red boxes belonging to his Department have (a) been reported missing or lost or (b) had their security features removed in order that they can be purchased for personal use by former ministers from 1 May 2018 to 30 April 2023.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
According to our records, no Ministerial red boxes have been reported lost or stolen from 1 May 2018 to 30 April 2023. There is no explicit requirement for the FCDO to record instances where security features have been removed in order that they can be purchased for personal use by former ministers. If the decision is taken that the Minister may keep their red box, but several of the FCDO's boxes share the same lock, the Minister would need to cover the full cost of changing the relevant locks.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when his Department's Board met in the 2021-22 financial year.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
Information on the FCDO's top-level governance structures in the 2021-22 financial year, including membership, regularity of meetings and issues covered, can be found in the 2021-22 Annual Report and Accounts: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1095304/FCDO_Annual_Report_2021_2022_Accessible_290722.pdf
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 23 March 2023 to Question 169226 on Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Aviation, on how many occasions that the Secretary of State has travelled overseas on non-scheduled flights with members of (a) the media and (b) business delegations in the travelling party in the period since 1 January 2021.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The FCDO fulfils the requirement, established since 2010, for government departments to publish transparency data in line with the Ministerial Code. The full set of FCDO published transparency returns, which include ministerial overseas travel and senior officials' travel costs (since the department's formation in September 2020), can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fcdo-ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings#2020 and https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fcdo-senior-officials-business-expenses-and-hospitality-april-to-june-2022.
The FCDO published transparency returns include the number of officials who accompanied ministers if non-scheduled travel was used but does not specify members of the media or business delegations. To specify members of the media or business delegations would incur a disproportionate cost to the department.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many overseas flights were made by ministers in his Department using non-scheduled air transport in each year from 2016 to 2022 inclusive; and on how many of those occasions were members of (a) the media and (b) business delegations included in the travelling party.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The requested information is not centrally held, and complying with this request would incur a disproportionate cost to the department. Comprehensive details of Senior Officials' Business Expenses, encompassing overseas and domestic flights are available on GOV.UK. Foreign travel is a vital part of diplomacy. It is in the national interest that the Foreign Secretary, and other Ministers travel abroad to pursue UK interests, developing international relationships through closer economic, security and development ties. This has been the case under successive administrations of all parties.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many UK nationals were provided with consular assistance after reporting that they had been a victim of (a) domestic violence or abuse and (b) rape or other sexual assault in each calendar year from 2011 to 2022 inclusive.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The number of British nationals provided with consular assistance after reporting that they had been a victim of (a) domestic violence or abuse and (b) rape or other sexual assault in each calendar year from 2011 to 2022 is:
2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | |
Domestic Abuse | 0 | 85 | 136 | 95 | 115 | 151 | 146 | 149 | 189 | 233 | ||
Rape & Sexual Assault | 273 | 300 | 269 | 251 | 279 | 273 | 319 | 390 | 365 | 136 | 139 | 343 |
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many UK nationals were provided with consular assistance after reporting that they had been a victim of (a) assault and (b) theft in each calendar year from 2011 to 2022 inclusive.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The number of British nationals provided with consular assistance after reporting that they had been a victim of (a) assault and (b) theft in each calendar year from 2011 to 2022 inclusive is below. Pre-2016, victims of theft cases were recorded within a broader case category. As individual case records from that period have been deleted in line with data retention rules, we are unable to provide headline annual figures for 'theft' cases.
2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | |
Assault | 291 | 338 | 303 | 300 | 266 | 230 | 239 | 281 | 287 | 131 | 146 | 240 |
Theft | 721 | 405 | 349 | 269 | 132 | 148 | 321 |
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether any officials, advisers or ministers from his Department have held discussions with representatives of (a) the Qatari government, (b) the consortium led by Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani or (c) Manchester United Football Club on that consortium's proposed takeover of that club.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
While we are aware of interest to purchase the club, neither FCDO Ministers or Officials have held meetings with the Government of Qatar, the consortium led by Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani, or Manchester United Football Club to discuss the takeover of the club. This is a matter for the owners and potential purchasers to resolve, including meeting any relevant requirement of the league in which they compete.