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21 July 2009 : Column 1251W—continued
British Overseas Territories: Discrimination
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which UK overseas territories do not have constitutions which prohibit discrimination on the grounds of (a) sexual orientation, (b) ethnicity and (c) gender. [287893]
Chris Bryant [holding reply of 20 July 2009]: Three overseas territories have constitutions with Bills of Rights dating from before 1997, namely Bermuda, Montserrat and Anguilla. Six overseas territories have new constitutions agreed since 1997 (Turks and Caicos Islands, Gibraltar, Falkland Islands, British Virgin Islands and-not yet in force-Cayman Islands, and St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha), each of which has a Bill of Rights.
All of the Bills of Rights have an open-ended non-discrimination provision prohibiting discrimination on grounds of a status listed or other status. It is not therefore necessary to set out every status in the provision. Where existing constitutional provisions fall short of this, we ensure that negotiations on a new constitution result in a Bill of Rights which reflects at a minimum the European convention on human rights and the international covenant on civil and political rights.
Compensation: Foreigners
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department has paid in compensatory or consolatory payments to non-UK nationals in each year since 1997. [285282]
Chris Bryant: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not keep such records of total amounts of compensatory or consolatory payments made to non-UK nationals.
Damian McBride
Mr. Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on what date he last met Mr. Damian McBride in the course of his official duties. [287403]
Chris Bryant: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has never had a meeting with Mr. Damian McBride in or outside his ministerial duties.
Departmental Cybercrime
Jenny Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last reviewed his Department's policy on recording numbers of attempted attacks against its computer systems. [288179]
Chris Bryant: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office complies with the mandatory requirements of the Security Policy Framework in relation to information security. The relevant requirement states that:
"All ICT (information and Communications technology) systems must have suitable identification and authentication controls to manage the risk of unauthorised access, enable auditing and the correct management of user accounts".
Departmental Internet
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department has spent on advertising its Locate system for British nationals who plan to travel abroad in each year since its inception. [288246]
Chris Bryant [holding answer 20 July 2009]: The promotion of Locate is a feature of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's (FCO) Know Before You Go public information campaign aimed at helping British travellers to stay safe and healthy abroad. It is impossible to calculate the exact spend on advertising Locate because the campaign combines a number of different travel safety messages, and local promotion initiatives have been funded from Posts' devolved budgets. However, we are able to specify that in 2008 the FCO paid £25,000 for Locate's media launch in the UK, and £24,300 for artwork and the development/printing of Locate leaflets and posters, mainly for use by our Posts abroad.
Departmental Procurement
Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress his Department has made in implementing the recommendations of the Glover Report in its procurement processes. [287139]
Chris Bryant: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has been engaging with the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) on the Glover report and made the following progress in respect of the recommendations:
We advertise our higher value UK requirements on the FCO website. The portal is being developed by OGC and consideration is being given to advertising on the Supply 2 Gov portal as an interim solution for our UK requirements.
We have been running a pilot of an OGC approved e-tendering system and we expect to meet this recommendation by the deadline.
We already do this for contracts advertised on the FCO website, but using the single portal will be considered in conjunction with the OGC development of the opportunities portal.
We already seek detail of all previous relevant experience, not just that limited to the public sector.
We published our Innovation Procurement Strategy and Implementation Plan on the FCO website on 15 July 2009.
We encourage greater use of outcome-based specifications.
We have altered our supplier adoption processes to clearly identify small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and enable the collection of SME expenditure data.
The OGC will be rolling out guidance to facilitate the implementation of the remaining Glover recommendations and the FCO will seek to adopt this guidance into its policy and processes in the required time scales.
Departmental Training
Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department has spent on training for (a) him and (b) each other Minister in his Department in the last 12 months; and what the purpose of each training activity was. [286123]
Chris Bryant: I refer the hon. Member to the answer by my hon. Friend, the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Gillian Merron) of 20 April 2009, Official Report, column 505W.
In addition to the training detailed in that reply, in the last 12 months £125 has been spent on IT training for my right hon. and noble Friend the Minister for Africa, Asia and the UN, Lord Malloch-Brown.
Departmental Work Experience
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what provision is made to enable students to undertake work experience in his Department; by what means members of the public may obtain information about work experience in his Department; and if he will make a statement. [288728]
Chris Bryant: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office's (FCO) centrally run work experience programmes are aimed at broadening the diversity of our work force.
We currently offer up to 40 students a place every year on the Partner University Placement Scheme, a positive action work experience programme to promote social inclusion and ethnic diversity within the FCO.
The FCO also participates in Cabinet Office diversity internships; taking up to 10 students and recent graduates from the Summer Development Programme (SDP) and the Summer Placement Scheme (SPS). The SDP is an internship for students from a black or minority ethnic background and the SPS is for students with a registered disability.
We are also taking part in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills Public Sector Graduate Internships, offering up to 30 places through financial year 2009-10.
Members of the public can find details of our centrally run work experience schemes through the work experience pages of the FCO website at:
Eritrea: International Assistance
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will seek agreement at EU level to withhold EU aid payments to Eritrea if there is no agreed improvement in Eritrea's performance on human rights. [288025]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: We remain concerned about the reports of human rights abuses in Eritrea.
The Eritrean Government have requested a discussion of human rights at the next EU Article 8 Political Dialogue meeting in September 2009.
The European Commission is conducting a mid-term review of its European development fund 10 (EDF 10) in October 2009. This assesses the relevance and performance of the current allocation of €122 million against the guidelines set out in the Commission's Eritrea country strategy paper.
We will consult closely with the European Commission in October if there is no improvement in Eritrea's performance on human rights.
Eritrea: Overseas Aid
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what financial support his Department has provided to Eritrea in the last 12 months. [288026]
Mr. Ivan Lewis: In the last 12 months, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has provided £107,000 to a female genital mutilation project to support the National Union of Eritrean Women and £95,000 supporting agricultural workers, via the National Federation of Eritrean Workers, to obtain fair pay and working conditions. Both projects are run through the Government of Eritrea but are closely monitored by our embassy in Asmara through, for example, visiting local health clinics where workshops are taking place.
Foreign Relations
Mr. Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which ambassadors to the UK he has requested to attend the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the last two years; and for what reasons in each case. [288541]
Chris Bryant: Ministers and senior officials regularly meet ambassadors at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and a full list of invitations to meetings would be disproportionately costly to provide.
Gilad Shalit
Mr. Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department is taking to secure the release of Gilad Shalit. [283350]
Mr. Ivan Lewis
[holding answer July 2009]: The UK continues to call on Hamas for the immediate, unconditional, and safe release of Corporal Shalit. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary made this clear
in his press statement on 25 June 2009 and the message was also reiterated during the EU Foreign Ministers' meeting on 15 June 2009.
Glasgow
John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he plans to visit Glasgow on official business during the summer Adjournment. [288920]
Chris Bryant: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has no plans to visit Glasgow on official business during the summer Adjournment.
Hamas
Mr. Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with aid agencies based in the UK to ensure that aid they provide is not misappropriated by Hamas; and if he will make a statement. [287519]
Mr. Douglas Alexander: All the organisations the Department for International Development (DFID) funds must meet their obligations in respect to EU and UK legislation on contact with Hamas. DFID officials are in regular contact with our partners to underline this position.
Holidays Abroad: Death
Mr. Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many British citizens died whilst on holiday in another EU member state in each of the last five years. [248392]
Chris Bryant: Given the volume of information, my predecessor, the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Gillian Merron) placed a copy in the Library of the House.
Iran: Diplomatic Service
Sir John Stanley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many locally employed British Embassy staff in Iran have immunity from jurisdiction under Article 38.1 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961. [287299]
Mr. Ivan Lewis [holding answer 20 July 2009]: No locally employed members of staff at British Embassy in Tehran have immunity under Article 38.1 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961.
Sir John Stanley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the merits of conferring diplomatic status on non-Diplomatic Service staff employed by the British Embassy in Iran in accordance with the Diplomatic Service Regulations 2006. [287302]
Mr. Ivan Lewis:
Staff are appointed under article 7 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Regulations 1961, according to the functions they perform at the mission. In practice, the privileges and immunities staff enjoy stem from the receiving state's recognition that they have been appropriately classified, in line with their
functions. The diplomatic service regulations do not apply to locally engaged staff who are employed on local terms and conditions, governed by local law and practice.
Jordan: Asylum
Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many Jordanian nationals were granted asylum in the UK in 2007-08. [282303]
Mr. Woolas: I have been asked to reply.
One Jordanian national was granted asylum in the UK in the financial year 2007-08.
Languages
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of staff required by his Department who speak each foreign language; how many staff in his Department speak each such language; how many staff in his Department have learnt a language in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement. [288612]
Chris Bryant: The following table shows the estimate of the number of operational speakers required by language. These figures are drawn from central human resources records which are constantly under review and subject to change at short notice for operational reasons. I am awaiting a report regarding the number of speakers in each language, which I will place in the Library once available.
209 officers have learnt a language in the last 12 months where it was necessary to do so to fulfil the job specification. In addition, a further 73 officers have learnt a language in order to help in-country acclimatisation.
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