Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether any licences issued for the export of arms to Israel have been revoked as a result of the violence in that country and the neighbouring Palestinian Territory in May 2021.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The Government takes its export control responsibilities very seriously and operates one of the most robust arms export control regimes in the world. We consider all export applications thoroughly against a strict risk assessment framework and keep all licences under careful and continual review as standard. The Government will not grant an export licence if to do so would be inconsistent with the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the terms of any licences issued for the export of arms to Israel have been varied as a result of the violence in that country and the neighbouring Palestinian Territory in May 2021.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
HM Government takes its export control responsibilities very seriously and operates one of the most robust arms export control regimes in the world. We consider all export applications thoroughly against a strict risk assessment framework and keep all licences under careful and continual review as standard. HM Government will not grant an export licence if to do so would be inconsistent with the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria. If extant licences are found to be no longer consistent with the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria, those licences will be revoked.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the trends in the level of international humanitarian law breaches committed as a result of shelling in Yemen.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK takes alleged violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and human rights law extremely seriously. Whenever the UK receives reports of alleged violations of IHL, we routinely seek information from all credible sources, including from non-governmental and international organisations.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
What steps he is taking to help resolve the conflict in Yemen.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The UK is playing a leading role in diplomatic efforts to find a peaceful solution. The Foreign Secretary and I are in regular contact with our counterparts across the region about this matter. In the last few days, I have spoken to the Deputy Emirati Foreign Minister and the Yemeni Foreign Minister.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the political and security situation in Yemen.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The Saudi-led Coalition continues to seek to reinstate the legitimate government in Yemen and defend its own southern border against artillery and missile strikes by Houthi forces and those allied to former President Saleh. Sporadic fighting is taking place in western Yemen, including along the Saudi border, around Midi, north east of Sana'a and in the vicinity of Sirwah. We remain concerned by the ability of terrorist organisations such as Al Qaeda and Daesh to exploit ungoverned spaces in Yemen. The conflict has also resulted in security threats to international shipping in the Bab-el-Mandeb. Restarting peace talks remains the priority: a political solution is the best way to bring stability to Yemen and address the worsening humanitarian crisis. The UK continues to play a leading role in international efforts to achieve this goal. The Yemeni parties must engage constructively and in good faith to find a political solution to end the conflict.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what proportion of (a) disabled and (b) all other staff in his Department responded that they were treated fairly at work in the most recent Civil Service People Survey.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The Civil Service People Survey asks the question “Do you have any long-standing physical or mental health condition, illness, impairment or disability?” The survey does not include a question that specifically identifies disability status.
In the 2014 People Survey, 73% of Foreign and Commonwealth Office respondents declaring a long-standing physical or mental health condition, illness, impairment or disability responded that they agreed or strongly agreed that they were treated fairly at work.
78% of Foreign and Commonwealth Office respondents declaring that they did not have a long-standing physical or mental health condition, illness, impairment or disability responded that they agreed or strongly agreed that they were treated fairly at work.
The FCO acts on staff feedback from the People Survey as a priority, ensuring concerns are addressed by departments. We take any complaints of bullying, harassment and discrimination very seriously and have guidance and points of contact in place to listen to and respond to staff concerns.
Staff with disabilities are supported by the FCO’s dedicated Disability Support Team, who provide advice, training and support to disabled colleagues and their line managers, and with our staff network work to raise disability awareness and confidence across the FCO.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what proportion of (a) disabled and (b) all other staff in his Department reported experiencing bullying or harassment at work in the most recent Civil Service People Survey.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The Civil Service People Survey asks the question “Do you have any long-standing physical or mental health condition, illness, impairment or disability?” The survey does not include a question that specifically identifies disability status. In the 2014 People Survey, 20% of Foreign and Commonwealth Office respondents declaring a long-standing physical or mental health condition, illness, impairment or disability reported that they had personally experienced bullying or harassment at work in the past 12 months. 12% of Foreign and Commonwealth Office respondents declaring that they did not have a long-standing physical or mental health condition, illness, impairment or disability reported that they had personally experienced bullying or harassment at work in the past 12 months. The FCO acts on staff feedback from the People Survey as a priority, ensuring concerns are addressed by departments. We take any complaints of bullying, harassment and discrimination very seriously and have guidance and points of contact in place to listen to and respond to staff concerns. Staff with disabilities are supported by the FCO’s dedicated Disability Support Team, who provide advice, training and support to disabled colleagues and their line managers, and with our staff network work to raise disability awareness and confidence across the FCO.
Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will take steps to use the UK's membership of the UN Human Rights Council to introduce a resolution condemning human rights violations in Bahrain.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The UK remains actively engaged with the United Nations Human Rights Council on Bahrain and we will continue to align ourselves with statements which accurately reflect the situation on the ground. Bahrain was one of the countries that we raised in our national statement under Item 10 of the agenda at the September session at the Human Rights Council in Geneva. We commend the steps taken by the Bahraini government to implement the recommendations set out in the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry. As outlined in our recent human rights case study on Bahrain, progress has been made in a number of areas but there is still more to be done.Asked by: Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what proportion of (a) disabled and (b) all other staff employed by his Department received each level of performance rating in their end of year performance assessment for 2013-14.
Answered by Hugh Robertson
The 2014 validation process for staff performance ratings is not yet complete for 2013/14.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) takes seriously its obligations to collect diversity data as required by the Equality Act 2010. Information about the diversity and makeup of our staff is listed in the FCO's Diversity and Equality Report.
All staff have been asked to provide personal disability data to be held anonymously. We continue to encourage increased declaration by staff as current declaration rates are below the level necessary to give meaningful statistical information. I will write to the hon Member (and place a copy of the letter in the library of the House) when the validation process is complete to answer her question.