The Work of the Committee in 2007-08 - Foreign Affairs Committee Contents


3  Scrutiny of Foreign and Commonwealth Office publications

Human rights

32.  Each year, we take evidence and produce our conclusions and recommendations on the annual human rights report produced by the FCO. This provides a valuable opportunity for this Committee and others to assess the Government's record in promoting human rights worldwide.

33.  The Government published its annual human rights report in March 2008 and we published our Report the following July.[13] In this we commented on human rights with respect to Afghanistan, Burma (Myanmar), China and Tibet, Colombia, Iran, Iraq, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Somalia/Ethiopia, Sudan, Syria and Zimbabwe. We also discussed the international framework of human rights, and considered specific issues relating to terrorism, including Guantánamo Bay, rendition and allegations of torture.

34.  As part of our inquiry we were particularly pleased to have the opportunity of taking oral evidence from His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office Annual Report 2007-08

35.  The Committee's annual inquiry into how the FCO is managing its resources takes the Department's Annual Report[14] as its starting point, and examines expenditure and administration as well as policy. In the past we have described this exercise in scrutiny as being "at the heart of our work", [15] and that continues to be the case.

36.  In 2008 the annual reports of government departments were published somewhat later than usual, in May, which had a knock-on effect on the timing of our inquiry, with most of the evidence being taken in the autumn. We shall publish our Report early in 2009.

37.  A particular focus in this year's Report will be on the work of FCO Services, in the light of that organisation's transformation on 1 April 2008 from an Executive Agency of the FCO to a Trading Fund. In June 2008 we visited FCO Services' headquarters at Hanslope Park near Milton Keynes, and the following month we took oral evidence from Chris Moxey, its Chief Executive.

38.  Our Report will also consider a wide range of aspects of the work of the FCO, including its recently introduced Strategic Framework, its performance against PSA targets, the future of the global network of Posts, planned changes to the overseas passport operation and visa services, financial and personnel issues, public diplomacy, transparency and openness, and the work of the British Council and BBC World Service.


13   Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Human Rights Report 2007, Cm 7340; Foreign Affairs Committee, Ninth Report of Session 2007-08, Human Rights Annual Report 2007, HC 533 Back

14   Foreign and Commonwealth Office Departmental Report, 1 April 2007 - 31 March 2008: Better World, Better Britain, Cm 7398, 14 May 2008 Back

15   Foreign Affairs Committee, First Report of Session 2006-07, The Work of the Committee in 2005 and 2006, HC 206, para 30 Back


 
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