Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to his Department’s published data on government procurement card spend over £500 for September 2022, what was purchased from Arbikie Highland Estate on 20 September 2022; and for what purpose was that purchase used.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This was a dinner hosted by the Department for International Trade during an offshore wind study visit by Polish parliamentarians, Polish wind industry association, Polish media and embassy staff, UK officials and the Scottish Government Trade Envoy to Poland.
The aim was to further UK-Poland offshore wind collaboration and raise the profile of the UK offshore wind supply chain and UK developers bidding for new Polish offshore wind sites. Arbikie was chosen because of its proximity to the Montrose offshore wind facility, also because it allowed a guided demonstration of the first distillery to be powered by hydrogen and so complement presentations on UK hydrogen projects.
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what are their priorities for the OSCE Ministerial Council Annual Meeting in Poland; and what steps they are taking to ensure the OSCE is able to deal with regional security issues and remain relevant in spite of the challenges posed by the war in Ukraine.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government's priorities for the OSCE Ministerial Council were to demonstrate strong support for Ukraine and highlight Russia's violations of the OSCE's core principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and the non-use of force. In his interventions, the Foreign Secretary also underlined our enduring support for the OSCE as a forum for dialogue, transparency, and confidence-building. We will continue, with like-minded partners, to work closely with the OSCE's leadership to hold Russia to account for its actions, support vulnerable countries in Russia's neighbourhood, and defend the OSCE's unique role in Euro-Atlantic security.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what operations are being run out of Permanent Joint Headquarters.
Answered by James Heappey
Enduring operational deployments which are commanded by Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ) are as follows:
Region | Operation | Overview |
Europe | Op CABRIT | The deployment of an enhanced Forward Presence Battlegroup to Estonia. |
Op ELGIN | The UK’s commitment to the stability and security of the Western Balkans, as well as to supporting the Euro-Atlantic aspirations of countries in the region. | |
Op ORBITAL | The UK’s training mission to Ukraine. | |
Op TOSCA | UN Peacekeeping mission in Cyprus. | |
PJHQ also command the deployment of Sky Sabre air defence into Poland. |
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Africa | Op NEWCOMBE | The UK contribution to MINUSMA (UN Peacekeeping mission) in Mali. |
Op TURUS | The UK’s provision of security, humanitarian, and development support to Nigeria. | |
Op TANGHAM | The UK support to African Union peace enforcement operations and UN missions in Somalia. | |
Indo-Asia Pacific | Op WOODWALL | The deployment of two British Warships (Offshore Patrol Vessels) in the Indo-Asia Pacific. |
Broader Middle East | Op SHADER | Counter Daesh mission. |
Op KIPION | UK maritime presence in the Gulf and Indian Ocean. | |
Op CROSSWAYS | Operational capacity building with KSA. |
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of implications for his policies of the withdrawal of (a) Germany, (b) France, (c) Spain, (d) the Netherlands, (e) Poland, (f) Slovenia and (g) Lithuania from the Energy Charter Treaty.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The UK has been closely monitoring the situation surrounding the Energy Charter Treaty’s modernisation process, including the positions taken by other Contracting Parties. The Government will continue to do so as part of Its engagement with the Treaty’s modernisation process.
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to co-operate with European countries to ensure that aid is being provided to Ukraine.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The UK and European partners are working closely on providing aid to Ukraine; military equipment, cyber resilience, humanitarian and economic support and energy resilience. As part of our response, we have deployed UK humanitarian experts to Poland, Romania and Moldova. On energy, the UK has provided €54.3 million in guarantees that has unlocked a total of €97.3 million of EBRD financing the Ukrainian electricity transmission system operator, Ukrenergo. The Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary and other Ministers are in regular contact with their European counterparts, including at UNGA, G7 and G20 meetings and at the European Political Community Summit where leaders agreed on the importance of UK-EU cooperation to support Ukraine for as long as it takes.
Asked by: Patrick Grady (Scottish National Party - Glasgow North)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Departments position on the UK's membership of the Energy Charter Treaty of the withdrawal of (a) Germany, (b) France, (c) the Netherlands, (d) Spain, (e) Poland and (f) Luxembourg from that treaty.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The UK is closely monitoring the situation surrounding the Energy Charter Treaty’s modernisation process, including the positions taken by other Contracting Parties.
Asked by: Olivia Blake (Labour - Sheffield, Hallam)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Departments position on the UK's membership of the Energy Charter Treaty of the withdrawal of (a) Germany, (b) France, (c) the Netherlands, (d) Spain, (e) Poland, (f) Slovenia and (g) from that treaty.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Government is monitoring developments closely in the Energy Charter Treaty as part of its engagement with the Treaty’s modernisation process.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 7 November 2022 to Question 75829 on Visits Abroad: Poland, what the individual cost was of her predecessor's (a) return flight, (b) overnight hotel accommodation and (c) meals and other non-flight and non-accommodation expenses for her trip to Poland on 6 May 2022.
Answered by Michael Tomlinson - Minister of State (Minister for Illegal Migration)
The individual costs of the former Attorney General’s trip to Poland were,
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Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 26 October 2022 to Question 68503 on Poland: Visits Abroad, whether the services from Milly Sabina Melanowski Catering purchased with one of his Department’s electronic purchasing cards on 4 April 2022 were included in the declared costs of his predecessor’s visit to Poland from 4 to 5 April 2022.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
All FCDO transparency and freedom of information releases are published on gov.uk. Transparency data has been published in this way since 2009/2010. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/letter-from-the-prime-minister-on-government-transparency-and-open-data.
It is standard practice across government to publish total overseas travel cost figures for Ministers. These can be found in our published Quarterly Transparency Returns.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 counterparts in (a) Poland and (b) Germany on support for rebuilding Ukraine.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs regularly engages with his counterparts in Poland and Germany on a variety of issues relating to Ukraine, including its rebuilding. I recently visited Poland and Germany, where this was one of the issues I discussed with my counterparts. Supporting Ukraine's early recovery and reconstruction is a priority for the UK and through regular engagements with partners the FCDO is working to ensure that international momentum behind Ukraine's recovery is sustained.