Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made recent representations to his Bangladeshi counterpart on the protection of religious minorities in Bangladesh.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In our public statements, we urged an end to the violence and a de-escalation of the situation. We were clear that a full and independent UN-led investigation into recent events is important. The UK Government welcomed the appointment of the Interim Government in Bangladesh, and it has the UK's support as it works to restore peace and order as well as ensure accountability and promote national reconciliation. The UK is committed to Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) for all, as guaranteed under international human rights law.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of reported attacks on the Hindu community in Bangladesh.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In our public statements, we urged an end to the violence and a de-escalation of the situation. We were clear that a full and independent UN-led investigation into recent events is important. The UK Government welcomed the appointment of the Interim Government in Bangladesh, and it has the UK's support as it works to restore peace and order as well as ensure accountability and promote national reconciliation. The UK is committed to Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) for all, as guaranteed under international human rights law.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of supporting a permanent seat for the Republic of India on the United Nations Security Council.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
The UK Government supports reform of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), to make it more representative of the world today. This includes our longstanding support for a permanent seat on the UNSC for India, as well as permanent African representation, and permanent seats for Germany, Japan and Brazil. We support an expansion of the non-permanent category of membership, taking the Security Council's total membership to somewhere in the mid-twenties. The UK Government regularly reiterates its support for India's permanent membership of the Security Council, including earlier this year in the UN General Assembly's recent round of intergovernmental negotiations on UNSC reform.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, how many staff in his Department were based in the Republic of India as of 15 April 2024.
Answered by David Rutley
The FCDO currently has between 40-49 staff, as at the end of March 2024, working in India.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what the average time taken by his Department to respond to a freedom of information (FOI) request was in each of the last five years; how many and what proportion of FOI requests his Department did not answer within the target time in each of the last five years; and how many FOI requests to his Department have not been answered within the target time as of 24 April 2024.
Answered by David Rutley
The FCDO takes its responsibilities under the Freedom of Information Act very seriously and will continue to strive to answer Freedom of Information (FOI) requests within the required timescales.
1. Number of cases received and answered on time 2019 - 2023
Year | Department | Total Number of FOI requests | Total Number answered on time | % on time |
2019 | FCO | 1229 | 1146 | 93% |
DfID | 436 | 430 | 99% | |
2020 | FCO | 828 | 665 | 80% |
DfID | 288 | 283 | 98% | |
FCDO | 352 | 277 | 79% | |
2021 | FCDO | 1245 | 1080 | 87% |
2022 | FCDO | 1214 | 956 | 79% |
2023 | FCDO | 1362 | 866 | 64% |
2. Number of cases received and answered on time 2024 - to date
Year | Department | Total number of FOI requests closed to date | Total number answered on time to date | % answered on time |
2024 to date | FCDO | 334 | 212 | 63% |
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, pursuant to the Answer of 6 March 2024 to Question 16041 on Diplomatic Service, whether his Department has had a policy of instructing British diplomats not to engage with Official Opposition hon. Members since 2010.
Answered by David Rutley
There is no policy preventing engagement between British diplomats and UK parliamentarians. While posts must prioritise resources for the delivery of HMG business, if a parliamentarian makes a request for support this will be considered on a case-by-case basis. The overseas network aims to provide appropriate support for parliamentarians, including a high-level of support for select committees travelling overseas. As per my previous answer (16041), all engagement with Parliamentarians must adhere to the principle of political impartiality and follow the correct clearance processes as outlined in the Civil Service code and Directory of civil service guidance.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether his Department has a policy on engagement between British diplomats at the Embassy and High Commission level at global British missions and Official Opposition hon. Members.
Answered by David Rutley
The FCDO policy on engagement between parliamentarians and officials in our overseas Posts and in the UK sets out that all engagement must adhere to the principle of political impartiality, remain factual and focused only on current government policy, and follow correct clearance processes as outlined in the Civil Service code and Directory of civil service guidance, which can be found at GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what information his Department holds on the number of (a) Moroccan and (b) Saharawi soldiers that have died since the Moroccan military incursion into Guerguerat.
Answered by David Rutley
The FCDO does not hold such records. However, we continue to monitor the situation in Western Sahara including through our engagements with the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) and our international partners.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with reference to UK International Development's white paper entitled International development in a contested world: ending extreme poverty and tackling climate change, published in November 2023, if his Department will publish a plan to deliver the policy commitments in that white paper.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
International development in a contested world, the International Development White Paper, sets out our strategic goal, to end extreme poverty and tackle climate change and biodiversity loss, and how the UK can accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, through to 2030. The FCDO will set out how it is delivering the White Paper through existing departmental planning processes, including the Outcome Delivery Plan and the Annual Report and Accounts.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how many (a) diplomats and (b) other officials accompanied the Minister of State for Commonwealth and Development Affairs on his visit to the Republic of India to attend Vibrant Gujarat Summit in January 2024.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon attended the Vibrant Gujarat Summit on 9-10 January 2024 to celebrate the close ties between the UK and India through business, culture, and our great links between our peoples. Three officials from the UK accompanied the Minister to India, with support provided by our India-based diplomatic network.