Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has with (a) international partners and (b) the UN on recent reports of cases of schoolgirls in Afghanistan being poisoned and hospitalised.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
FCDO officials regularly press the Taliban on all human rights issues, including the rights of women and girls. Reports of poisonings of schoolgirls in Afghanistan are very worrying. We are working closely with our mission in Doha, international partners, NGOs and the UN to continue to monitor the reports. Lord (Tariq) Ahmad, Minister for South Asia, has made clear that it is essential that all girls can exercise their human right to education without fear.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
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 proportion of invoices his Department paid to small and medium-sized enterprises within five days in (a) the 2021-2022 financial year and (b) each of the last 12 months.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Data on the prompt payment statistics for FCDO pertaining to financial year 2021/22 can be found published at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fcdo-prompt-payment-data-2021-to-2022. Publication of data for financial year 22/23 has been delayed by the implementation of a new Finance system in the second half of 2022, but will be published as soon as it is available. The FCDO aims to pay all valid invoices from all UK suppliers, including small to medium-sized enterprises, as quickly as possible, and as the published statistics show our average success rate in paying invoices within 5 days between April 2021 and March 2022 was circa 95 percent. The Procurement Bill, currently passing through Parliament, will create a simpler and more transparent procurement regime that will further open up public procurement to SMEs.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the adherence to human rights in Balochistan.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
Pakistan is an FCDO human rights priority country. The UK regularly engages the Government of Pakistan at a senior level on the need to respect human rights and uphold the rule of law. On 30 January, Minister for South Asia, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, discussed the human rights situation with Minister for Human Rights Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 9 March 2023 to Question 156161 on Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Advisory Bodies, whether he has an indicative agenda for the meetings of the panel.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The agenda will be aligned to commitments and targeted actions set out in FCDO Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Action Plan, taking account of feedback from suppliers during the call for applications. Future agenda's will be shaped with input from panel members on how best to deliver actions and improvements collaboratively with FCDO.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 9 March 2023 to Question 156161 on Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Advisory Bodies, if he will publish an indicative timeline of when the panel's membership will be known.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Potential Panel members have been shortlisted and have been contacted and asked to confirm acceptance. The names of the organisations will be published on FCDO website by 30 April 2023 ahead of the first meeting of the group.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 9 March 2023 to Question 156161 on Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Advisory Bodies, whether his Department has made an assessment of the expected cost of the panel.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The panel members have agreed to participate on a voluntary basis. The Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Advisory Panel will be run by FCDO employees and utilises FCDO facilities.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will (a) publish the membership of the FCDO’s SME Advisory Panel and (b) confirm how many times it has met since its establishment.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
FCDO's Small to Medium Enterprises (SME) Advisory Panel shortlist has been selected, the outcome is being communicated to all applicants. On confirmation that all applicants have received the outcome correspondence, FCDO will publish the membership details on FCDO's website. The SME Advisory panel launch meeting will take place Spring 2023, with quarterly meetings thereafter.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Azerbaijani counterpart on the Lachin Corridor Blockade.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
On 22 and 23 February, I [Minister Docherty], met Azerbaijani counterparts in Baku including their Foreign Minister to discuss progress on peace discussions between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the ongoing closure of the Lachin Corridor. This followed previous discussions that I had in London with the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister on 6 February, the Armenian Ambassador on 7 February, the Azerbaijani Ambassador on 30 January and the Armenian Foreign Minister on 18 January. I hope to travel to Yerevan next month to continue these discussions. The UK Government remains committed to supporting Armenia and Azerbaijan reach a sustainable and peaceful settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what estimate he has made of the value of trade between the UK and Azerbaijan.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
In the four quarters to the end of Q3 2022, bilateral trade between the UK and Azerbaijan was £1.2 billion. The UK Government remains committed to supporting the development of trade between the UK and Azerbaijan in the coming years.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
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 potential merits of introducing a policy of trade embargo with Azerbaijan.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
In the four quarters to the end of Q3 2022, bilateral trade between the UK and Azerbaijan was £1.2 billion. The UK Government remains committed to supporting the development of trade between the UK and Azerbaijan in the coming years and has no plans to consider introducing a trade embargo with Azerbaijan.