Asked by: Mike Kane (Labour - Wythenshawe and Sale East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Indian counterparts about the treatment of human rights defenders in that country.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
Human rights defenders make an essential contribution to the promotion of the rights of their fellow citizens. The UK Government has a broad and deep partnership with the Government of India and we discuss all elements of our relationship including issues where we have them. These topics were among issues discussed by Lord [Tariq] Ahmad, Minister for South Asia, with the Government of India, leaders of faith groups and others during his recent visit to India (27-31 May).
Asked by: Mike Kane (Labour - Wythenshawe and Sale East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has discussed recent attacks against (a) Christian communities and (b) Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, including the assault on the Church of Gethsemane on 19 March 2023, with his Israeli counterpart.
Answered by David Rutley
The UK is a strong supporter of Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) and calls for places of worship to be respected. We condemn the violence at the Church of Gethsemane on 19 March. Israel must ensure those responsible for attacks on Christians are held to account. We value the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan's important role as custodian of the holy sites in Jerusalem. The Foreign Secretary emphasised the importance of all parties respecting the historic Status Quo arrangements at Jerusalem's holy sites during Israeli Foreign Minister Cohen's recent visit to London and in my statement on 7 April.
Asked by: Mike Kane (Labour - Wythenshawe and Sale East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to help ensure that any funds raised for Ukraine through the UN system are disbursed to local civil society organisations leading the response on the ground.
Answered by James Cleverly
The UK's humanitarian response is focused on early funding to the UN and partner humanitarian organisations in Ukraine, as well as a commitment to fund NGOs through UK Aid Match funding to the DEC Appeal. We expect that a significant proportion of UK humanitarian funding to UN agencies operating in Ukraine will be disbursed to Ukrainian NGOs as the UN often partner with local NGOs to help deliver humanitarian assistance. The UN and local NGOs also often work together through UN led humanitarian co-ordination structures in country. For example, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Ukraine is increasing their efforts to reach Ukrainian NGOs and encourage them to apply to the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund either individually or through consortium.
Asked by: Mike Kane (Labour - Wythenshawe and Sale East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps she is taking to help ensure that people who have arrived in the UK through the Hong Kong British National (Overseas) route can access their Hong Kong Mandatory Provident Fund from the UK using a British National (Overseas) passport.
Answered by Amanda Milling
Hong Kong's Mandatory Provident Fund Authority is unfairly disrupting people's livelihoods by refusing to accept the BN(O) visa when Hong Kongers apply for early withdrawal of their pensions. This is preventing Hong Kongers from accessing funds they are entitled to. The Government has raised our concerns with the relevant Hong Kong authorities.
Asked by: Mike Kane (Labour - Wythenshawe and Sale East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what proportion of staff employed by his Department are apprentices.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
As of 31 December 2019, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) employed 112 apprentices, of whom 62 work for our Trading Fund, FCO Services. We expect a further 51 staff to enrol on an apprenticeship by 31 March 2020.
Asked by: Mike Kane (Labour - Wythenshawe and Sale East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 20 March 2019 to Question 233007 on Ilois: Finance, on what dates were the visits organised by the British Indian Ocean Territory Administration between 2000 and 2016 to allow Chagossians access to their homeland; and how many Chagossians participated in each of those visits.
Answered by Alan Duncan
Between 2000 and 2015, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office funded a total of 10 visits, involving 164 Chagossian participants, to the British Indian Overseas Territories. A breakdown is included below:
Year | Month | Number of Chagossians |
2006 | September | 56 |
2008 | February – March | 8 |
2008 | November | 6 |
2009 | October - November | 18 |
2010 | (dates not available) | 7 |
2011 | March | 12 |
2011 | June | 4 |
2011 | November | 15 |
2013 | October – November | 20 |
2015 | April – May | 18 |
2016 | (no visits) | 0 |
On 16 November 2016, I announced the UK's decision to fund a package to improve support for Chagossians. This included an expanded programme of visits to the British Indian Oceans Territories.
Asked by: Mike Kane (Labour - Wythenshawe and Sale East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 14 March 2019 to Question 230807 on Ilois Finance, how many visits £312,899.37 has financed, and how many Chagossians have to date (a) expressed interest but not yet participated and (b) participated in those visits from (i) Seychelles, (ii) Mauritius, (iii) the UK and (iv) other countries.
Answered by Alan Duncan
76 Chagossians have participated in five Heritage Visits to date which have been funded by the Support Package. This breaks down by country:
Seychelles: 7
Mauritius: 18
UK: 51
Other countries: 0
There have been 156 initial expressions of interest who have not participated in a Heritage Visit. Not all went onto complete questionnaires, and of those who did, not all met the requirements to participate in a Heritage Visit.
Asked by: Mike Kane (Labour - Wythenshawe and Sale East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Chagos Conservation Trust has returned any unspent funds that were provided by his Department for the purposes of the Chagossian Outreach Programme; and how much in total (a) was and (b) remains to be provided for that programme.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The Chagos Environmental Outreach Project (later named Connect Chagos) ran from March 2012 to December 2015. In total just over £330,000 was provided by the British Indian Ocean Territory Administration to the Chagos Conservation Trust and Zoological Society for London for the delivery of the programme. At the end of the programme, an underspend of £16,745 was reported. The British Indian Ocean Territory Administration is in discussions with the Chagos Conservation Trust about options for the use of this underspend. No additional funding remains to be provided.
Asked by: Mike Kane (Labour - Wythenshawe and Sale East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 11 October 2018 to Question 170339 on Ilois Finance, how much of the £40 million fund for Chagossians has been allocated to date; to whom that funding has been allocated; and for what purposes that money has been allocated.
Answered by Alan Duncan
£312,899.37 of the £40 million fund has been spent to date, largely on implementing an expanded programme of Heritage Visits for Chagossians to the British Indian Ocean Territory. Officials are continuing work to identify areas for broader support package funding. The bulk of the funding will be allocated once we have a clear assessment of need, and an agreed mechanism for effectively and fairly disbursing funds in collaboration with the Chagossian communities in the UK, Seychelles and Mauritius.
Asked by: Mike Kane (Labour - Wythenshawe and Sale East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what proportion of the staff employed by his Department are apprentices.
Answered by Alan Duncan
As of 31 January 2019, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) employed 99 apprentices, of whom 57 work for our Trading Fund, FCO Services. This is 1.69 per cent (an increase of 0.34 per cent from January 2018) of the total of FCO and FCO Services UK-based staff worldwide, and 2.59 per cent (an increase of 0.59 per cent from January 2018) of our staff working in the UK. We expect a further 22 staff to enrol on an apprenticeship by 31 March 2019.