Asked by: Stephen Phillips (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 28 January 2016 to Question 23481, which commercial third party suppliers were responsible for the 57 breaches in handling secure materials there identified.
Answered by David Lidington
The third party suppliers responsible were BAE Systems, Daisy, Computacenter, Vodafone and Capgemini.
Asked by: Stephen Phillips (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 28 January 2016 to Question 23481, of the 57 breaches in handling secure materials there identified, how many breaches concerned documents within each of the following categories applicable prior to April 2014, namely (a) top secret, (b) secret, (c) confidential, (d) restricted, (e) protected and (f) unclassified; and how many breaches concerned documents within each of the following categories applicable from April 2014, namely (i) top secret, (ii) secret and (iii) official-sensitive or official.
Answered by David Lidington
The figures quoted in my answer of 28 January to written question 23481 referred only to the period since April 2014. The information on breaches prior to April 2014 are not held centrally and could be collated only at disproportionate cost. The number of breaches from April 2014 onwards are as follows:
Classification:
Top Secret
Number:
1
Comment:
There was no loss of data related to this breach.
Classification:
Secret
Number:
0
Classification:
Confidential
Number:
12
Comment:
The Confidential classification pre-dates the introduction of the Government Security Classifications (GSCs).
Classification:
Official-Sensitive
Number:
43
Comment:
Official - Sensitive is not a classification under GSC and is a caveat. Materials designated Official or Official-Sensitive does have a level of protection; however loss of its control does not warrant a breach as per existing Cabinet Office guidelines.
Classification:
Official
Number:
1
Asked by: Stephen Phillips (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has made a formal request for the Government of the People's Republic of China to state the legal basis for its territorial claims in the South China Sea.
Answered by Lord Swire
The UK has consistently called on all parties to clarify the legal basis for their claims in the South China Sea. We continue to urge all parties to pursue their claims peacefully in accordance with international law, in particular the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), raised the situation in the South China Sea with China during his recent visit to Beijing on 5 January.
Asked by: Stephen Phillips (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, on how many occasions his Department has been notified by external consultants or other third parties of breaches by employees or subcontractors of those consultants of document retention or security policies relating to confidential or secure materials in each of the last two years.
Answered by David Lidington
Our records show 57 breaches by commercial third party suppliers in handling secure materials for the years in question. This is broken down by year as follows:
2014/15 - 47
2015/16 - 10
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has rigorous formal procedures for reporting, investigating and monitoring any incidents involving the loss or compromise of sensitive data for which it is responsible. Our policies and procedures are designed to ensure that we are compliant with the Data Protection Act 1998 and HMG’s Security Policy Framework. Responsibility for this compliance is shared with Suppliers through appropriate contract terms and conditions.
Asked by: Stephen Phillips (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the UK is entitled to be represented before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in Philippines v. China.
Answered by Lord Swire
The UK is not party to the case of Philippines v China before the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and is therefore not entitled to be formally represented before the PCA in this case.
Asked by: Stephen Phillips (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government has formed a view on the legality of the maritime claims made by the People's Republic of China in the South China Sea as set out in the nine-dotted line map annexed to the Notes Verbales communicated to the UN Secretary-General in May 2009.
Answered by Lord Swire
The UK takes no position on the underlying and conflicting claims in the South China Sea. We encourage all parties to resolve all their maritime disputes peacefully, in accordance with international law, for example the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Asked by: Stephen Phillips (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the UK plans to be represented before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in Philippines v. China.
Answered by Lord Swire
The UK is not party to the case of Philippines v China before the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and is therefore not entitled to be formally represented before the PCA in this case.
Asked by: Stephen Phillips (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the Government of Saudi Arabia on the ending the restrictions on imports of fuel, food and medical supplies to Yemen.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
During a visit to Saudi Arabia on 28 October, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) met his counterpart, Minister Al Jubeir. They discussed humanitarian issues, including humanitarian access to Yemeni ports, as well as the need for accelerating the political process in Yemen. We welcome the Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister’s and President Hadi’s statements that all of Yemen’s ports are open and the initial indications of progress on maritime access, but more needs to be done.
To have real impact, commercial and humanitarian access must be sustained and systematic. The UN verification and Inspection Mechanism (UNVIM) is the best way to ensure this. We are working closely with the UN to establish it as soon as possible. The Secretary of State for International Development, my right hon. Friend the Member for Putney (Justine Greening) has also expressed the UK’s readiness to support to the UNVIM and DfID has just committed £1.4 million to the UN to support its establishment.
Asked by: Stephen Phillips (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to support the establishment of an independent international body to investigate violations of international law in Yemen.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
We remain deeply concerned about the human rights situation and alleged violations of International Humanitarian Law in Yemen. The UK fully and actively supports the UN’s efforts to achieve a political solution to bring an end to the conflict. This will help create the conditions for the legitimate Government to improve its capacity to protect human rights. The UK has previously engaged the Yemeni Government - both bilaterally and through the UN Human Rights Council - on a wide range of human rights issues. We continue to raise the importance of compliance international human rights law with all sides to the conflict.
We welcome the September UN Human Rights Council resolution which contains mechanisms for monitoring the human rights situation in Yemen. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has been tasked to help Yemen investigate human rights abuses and violations, but it will be up to Yemen to decide on how it sets up its own domestic mechanism. We welcome Yemen's commitment to cooperate with the UN on protection of human rights.
Asked by: Stephen Phillips (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support the resolution of discussions on the sovereignty of oil reserves in the Golan Heights.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The Government believes that Israel must continue to fulfil its obligations under the Oslo Accords, including through the exploration of shared natural resources. We continue to follow the situation of the oil exploration licences in the Golan Heights closely. We have been clear that Israel must comply with its obligations under international law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention.