Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

In February, the Defence Secretary announced that we would double our funding to £40 million for Project Renovator, which draws on the UK's leading defence medical expertise to expand Ukraine's military rehabilitation and medical services. Through a partnership with the Unbroken Rehabilitation Centre, Imperial Healthcare NHS Trust have launched an infection control programme which aims to strengthen capacity and capability of medical personnel in both the UK and Ukraine to manage the healthcare burden created by anti-microbial resistance.

We share President Trump's desire to bring this barbaric war to an end and remain in close touch with the US at every level. Following talks between the US and Ukraine on 11 March, and the US and Russia on 13 March, the Foreign Secretary spoke to Secretary of State Rubio. The Foreign Secretary also spoke to the Secretary of State on 22 April prior to the peace talks between the US, Ukraine, France, Germany and the UK.

The Prime Minister has set out a new strategic vision for government spending on defence and security, and official development assistance. Detailed decisions on how the Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget will be used will be worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review on the basis of various factors including the likely impact on the UK's international partnerships with developing nations.

The government remains fully committed to the UK playing a globally significant role on development; it is both in our national interest and in the interest of our partners. Our mission remains to help create a world free from poverty on a liveable planet.

The UK remains committed to sustainable development goal 3.3 including ending AIDS by 2030. The UK supports partners including UNAIDS, Unitaid, and the Global Fund to improve equitable access to HIV prevention services tailored to individual needs. In 2023, the Global Fund partnership reached 17.9 million people with HIV prevention services. Unitaid recently committed $17 million in market-shaping grants to accelerate affordable access to long-acting lenacapavir for HIV prevention. UK investment in research and development supported the development of the dapivirine vaginal ring, another important tool for HIV prevention.

This Government takes International Parental Child Abduction (IPCA) extremely seriously. As a signatory to the 1980 Hague Convention, the UK remains committed to the effective enforcement of court orders requiring a child's return to their place of habitual residence. On 19 December 2024, the Foreign Secretary raised the issue of IPCA in Poland with Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski. On 28 February, I raised the issue with my Polish counterpart, Minister Marek Prawda, and with the Polish Ambassador to the UK on 29 April 2025. HMG officials also raise issues directly with Polish authorities. The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, Ministry of Justice, and other key UK authorities hosted a Polish delegation in April to enhance cooperation and improve outcomes in cross-border family cases.

This Government takes International Parental Child Abduction (IPCA) extremely seriously. Affected parents have reported issues to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office regarding the enforcement of Polish court orders requiring the return of abducted children to the UK. I met the Rt. Honourable Member's constituent in January to discuss his daughter's abduction and the devastating toll IPCA takes on those affected. This Government will continue to raise the issue at every appropriate opportunity with the Polish authorities, including at ministerial level.

Decisions on how the Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget will be used will be worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review. We are currently unable to confirm exact levels of funding for the outer years until the spending review for this period has been completed.

The majority of funding for ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) and other nutrition programmes is administered by Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) country offices, and allocated through humanitarian programmes. It is therefore not possible to know in advance how much will be spent on nutrition. The FCDO retrospectively publishes nutrition spend on an annual basis. The most recent available data is from 2022 and can be found online.

As a close friend and ally of Turkey, the Government is closely monitoring the situation following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu and protests. Ekrem Imamoğlu is subject to an ongoing domestic Turkish legal process. The UK expects Turkey to uphold its international commitments and the rule of law, including through ensuring a swift and transparent judicial process. The Government has been engaging with the Turkish Government and the Foreign Secretary spoke with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on 29 March and raised our expectation that Turkey upholds its international commitments and the rule of law, and that it protects the fundamental rights to free speech, peaceful assembly, and media freedom. I have also raised these matters with counterparts. The UK is a staunch supporter of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law across the world and will always support these fundamental rights.

As a close friend and ally of Turkey, the Government is closely monitoring the situation following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu and protests. Ekrem Imamoğlu is subject to an ongoing domestic Turkish legal process. The UK expects Turkey to uphold its international commitments and the rule of law, including through ensuring a swift and transparent judicial process. The Government has been engaging with the Turkish Government and the Foreign Secretary spoke with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on 29 March and raised our expectation that Turkey upholds its international commitments and the rule of law, and that it protects the fundamental rights to free speech, peaceful assembly, and media freedom. I have also raised these matters with counterparts. The UK is a staunch supporter of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law across the world and will always support these fundamental rights.

As a close friend and ally of Turkey, the Government is closely monitoring the situation following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu and protests. Ekrem Imamoğlu is subject to an ongoing domestic Turkish legal process. The UK expects Turkey to uphold its international commitments and the rule of law, including through ensuring a swift and transparent judicial process. The Government has been engaging with the Turkish Government and the Foreign Secretary spoke with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on 29 March and raised our expectation that Turkey upholds its international commitments and the rule of law, and that it protects the fundamental rights to free speech, peaceful assembly, and media freedom. I have also raised these matters with counterparts. The UK is a staunch supporter of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law across the world and will always support these fundamental rights.

As a close friend and ally of Turkey, the Government is closely monitoring the situation following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu and protests. Ekrem Imamoğlu is subject to an ongoing domestic Turkish legal process. The UK expects Turkey to uphold its international commitments and the rule of law, including through ensuring a swift and transparent judicial process. The Government has been engaging with the Turkish Government and the Foreign Secretary spoke with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on 29 March and raised our expectation that Turkey upholds its international commitments and the rule of law, and that it protects the fundamental rights to free speech, peaceful assembly, and media freedom. I have also raised these matters with counterparts. The UK is a staunch supporter of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law across the world and will always support these fundamental rights.

The following table includes the number of lost department-issued devices by The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office since 5 July 2024.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office agreed a voluntary exit scheme settlement for Financial Year 2025/2026 with His Majesty's Treasury of £35 million. The current scheme does not include any non-departmental bodies. Exits must be completed by the end of the financial year and will total around 500 exits. This is an estimated figure as applicants may withdraw from the scheme. There are no plans for a further scheme at this time. Voluntary exit schemes are a helpful and commonly used process by most large organisations, and future schemes will vary in scale and scope to meet business need. All future plans will be subject to the outcome of Phase 2 of the Spending Review.

We hold regular discussions on human rights at senior levels with the Peruvian Government including the Foreign Minister, the Minister for Women and Vulnerable Populations, and other stakeholders and have raised concerns about threats to human rights defenders. The Minister of State for International Development, Latin America and Caribbean met a group of Peruvian human rights defenders in November 2024 to discuss the 2022-23 political protests. We will continue to work with the government and wider civil society groups to support the protection of human rights in Peru. Alongside raising the importance of accountability, in the aftermath of the protests, through the UN High Commissioner's Office for Human Rights, the UK funded technical assistance to the Public Prosecutor's Office, forensic capacity building, and training within the judiciary.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has a workforce budget of £1.02 billion for Financial Year 2025-26, which currently supports a workforce of 17,300, inclusive of 5900 UK based staff in the UK, 2,200 UK based staff overseas and 9,200 non-civil servant country-based staff employed in-country.

The FCDO is working through our Spending Review settlement with HM Treasury, which will enable detailed workforce projections for the Spending Review period to be made. Overall, our expectation is that the size of the workforce will reduce in the coming years, but spending decisions will need to be balanced against investment in technology, estate, and capability to ensure the FCDO can continue to deliver the government's priorities.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office will continue to follow the guidance of the Permanent Committee on Geographical Names (PCGN) who advises His Majesty's Government on policies and procedures for the representation of geographical names for places and features outside the UK, excluding those of the Antarctic. For names of international maritime features beyond any sovereignty, PCGN usually advises reflecting the common English conventional name, which for this body of water is the 'Gulf of Mexico'.

The UK is closely monitoring the human rights situation in Peru, including the specific challenges faced by indigenous communities. Our Ambassador to Peru and his team regularly meet representatives of indigenous communities to understand the challenges faced by these groups. The Minister of State for International Development, Latin America and Caribbean also met a group of Peruvian human rights defenders in November 2024 to discuss the 2022-23 political protests. We hold regular discussions on human rights at senior levels with the Peruvian Government and have raised concerns about threats to human rights defenders. In the aftermath of the protests, through the UN High Commissioner's Office for Human Rights, the UK has funded technical assistance to the Public Prosecutor's Office, forensic capacity building and training within the judiciary.

Since the launch of the UK's Ukraine schemes, 219,400 Ukrainians have arrived in the UK as of December 2024, in part thanks to the immense generosity of the British public.

Designated individuals and entities do not forfeit ownership of assets frozen in the UK. However, the UK has legislation in place allowing us to keep sanctions in place.

Russia's obligations are clear: it must end its illegal war of aggression and pay for the damage it has caused Ukraine. We continue to work with our allies to pursue all lawful ways to ensure that Russia does so.

The UK has now disbursed over half of the UK's £2.26 billion contribution to the G7's Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration scheme. That contribution will be repaid by the profits generated on sanctioned Russian sovereign assets.

The impact of Official Development Assistance cuts on specific programmes is being worked through following the decision but the Prime Minister has reassured that Ukraine will remain a priority. The UK is committed to ensuring Russia is held to account for its actions.

We do not share the details of diplomatic discussions. To do so would only benefit Putin. We continue to work closely with the US, Ukraine, and European partners to achieve the shared goal of a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.

The Government is committed to ensuring that asylum costs fall and has already acted. The Government has taken measures to reduce the asylum backlog, reform the asylum accommodation system to end the use of expensive accommodation in the next Spending Review (SR) period and increase detention capacity to facilitate more asylum removals. Whilst there will always be volatility in asylum forecasts, we expect these decisions to drive down overall in-donor refugee costs over the next SR.

All UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) spending is consistent with the international rules agreed by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's Development Assistance Committee. This includes ODA spent on in-donor refugee costs.

Decisions on how the ODA budget will be used will be worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review, based on various factors including impact assessments. The UK is committed to empowering women and girls around the world through our international work.

Reducing the overall size of our Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget will necessarily have an impact on the scale and shape of the work we do. Decisions on how the ODA budget will be used will be worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review, based on various factors including impact assessments.

Multilateral cooperation is an important part of working through partnerships and allows a global scale of investment and delivery that outstrips what countries can achieve alone. However, with less money in the system, we must have a laser focus on delivering more effectively and efficiently.

There are no plans to amend the International Development (Official Development Assistance Target) Act 2015 to change the target for Official Development Assistance (ODA) to 0.5 per cent of Gross National Income (GNI).

The Government is committed to returning to spending 0.7 per cent of GNI on ODA as soon as fiscal circumstances allow.

The Antarctic Treaty, of which the UK and China are members, preserves Antarctica as a place of peace and science. While there is growing global interest in the economic potential of Antarctica, the Treaty ensures all parties adhere to high environmental standards. The UK has longstanding interests in Antarctica, and we will continue to maintain a permanent presence on the continent, allowing us to conduct world-leading science, preserve British heritage, and safeguard our sovereignty of the British Antarctic Territory.

The UK consistently advocates for the rights to freedom of expression and assembly, globally. During his recent visit to Serbia, the Foreign Secretary underlined to government interlocutors the importance of protecting and respecting these rights, and of maintaining high standards in policing peaceful demonstrations accordingly.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) welcomes staff from all religions and beliefs and aims to ensure all staff are treated with dignity and respect. The FCDO's Faith Networks can nominate up to two religious holidays per religion (Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism) to be observed each year. As a global workforce it is likely that British Embassies recognise additional religious and cultural holidays, which are celebrated in the country they reside in, as a mark of respect and to further understanding of the countries we operate in order to deliver better the outcomes for UK citizens.

The UK Government supports the Interim Government's agenda to restore law and order, ensure accountability and promote national reconciliation. While we have not had discussions with the Interim Government of Bangladesh regarding the destruction of Bangabandhu Memorial Museum specifically, we have encouraged all sides to work together to end the cycle of retributive violence. In February, Human Rights Ambassador Eleanor Sanders visited Bangladesh and met with the Interim Government and discussed a wide range of human rights concerns.  We continue to work with the Interim Government as it charts a peaceful transition to an inclusive and democratic future.

I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the response given to her previous Parliamentary Questions 39402, 39403 and 41824 on the details of the treaty.

The British Indian Ocean Territory Administration currently has responsibility for the management and monitoring of its marine protected area, including the release of research studies sponsored by them.

The St Helena Government sets the wholesale fuel price and the island's fuel retailers set the commercial price. The St Helena Government has set out the ambition for generating 80 per cent of its local energy production from renewable energy sources by 2027/2028. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, through its £30 million Economic Development and Investment Programme, is supporting the St Helena Government to progress capital investment in a range of renewable sources.

I refer the Hon. member to the responses given to his previous Parliamentary Questions 37768 and 37368, which remains the same.

I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the response given to her previous Parliamentary Question 36637, which remains the same.

I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the response given to her previous Parliamentary Question 36637, which remains the same.

The St Helena Government is responsible for energy generation and has set out the ambition for generating 80 per cent of its local energy production from renewable energy sources by 2027/2028. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, through its £30 million Economic Development and Investment Programme, is supporting the St Helena Government to progress capital investment in a range of renewable sources.

At the Overseas Territories Joint Ministerial Council (JMC) in November 2024, the Falkland Islands and Saint Helena committed to implement fully public registers by April 2025. The British Virgin Islands (BVI), Cayman Islands, Bermuda, Anguilla and Turks and Caicos Islands agreed to implement registers of beneficial ownership, accessible to those with a legitimate interest, by June 2025. It remains our expectation that the Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies will ultimately implement fully public registers as those that are already in place in Gibraltar and Montserrat.

I discussed progress on beneficial ownership transparency with Premier Wheatley (BVI) last month. A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) senior official visited BVI earlier this month and met with government and the finance industry. Every Territory is making progress towards the JMC commitments and FCDO officials are in regular contact with counterparts in the Overseas Territories on their proposals for registers to ensure they meet the agreement made at the JMC. I have and will continue to raise this directly with elected leaders across the Overseas Territories.

The Government is keeping this under close review and will carefully consider what further steps to take if the registers are not delivered as per JMC agreements.

At the Overseas Territories Joint Ministerial Council (JMC) in November 2024, the Falkland Islands and Saint Helena committed to implement fully public registers by April 2025. The British Virgin Islands (BVI), Cayman Islands, Bermuda, Anguilla and Turks and Caicos Islands agreed to implement registers of beneficial ownership, accessible to those with a legitimate interest, by June 2025. It remains our expectation that the Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies will ultimately implement fully public registers as those that are already in place in Gibraltar and Montserrat.

I discussed progress on beneficial ownership transparency with Premier Wheatley (BVI) last month. A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) senior official visited BVI earlier this month and met with government and the finance industry. Every Territory is making progress towards the JMC commitments and FCDO officials are in regular contact with counterparts in the Overseas Territories on their proposals for registers to ensure they meet the agreement made at the JMC. I have and will continue to raise this directly with elected leaders across the Overseas Territories.

The Government is keeping this under close review and will carefully consider what further steps to take if the registers are not delivered as per JMC agreements.

The UK has been consistent in challenging malicious cyber activity carried out by North Korean groups. This has included exposing and sanctioning North Korean actors for disruptive attacks that impacted the National Health Service. The National Cyber Security Centre has also issued multiple Cyber Security Advisories specifically on threats from North Korean groups, informing the UK technical audience on the way these groups operate and ways to defend against them.

The Government remains committed to working for faster progress on Jagtar Singh Johal's case, and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office continue to provide support to Mr Johal and his family. The Foreign Secretary last met Mr Johal's family on 30 October 2024 and is due to meet them again in early May.

The UK is committed to assisting investigative, prosecuting and judicial authorities in combating international crime. Whilst we cannot comment on any individual asset recovery cases, we have robust illicit finance legislation and instruments which can be used to support asset recovery requests.  The UK is providing support to the Interim Government of Bangladesh through the International Anti-Corruption Coordination Centre hosted by the UK's National Crime Agency and the International Centre for Asset Recovery. We will continue to support these recoveries to the extent that we can.

The Foreign Secretary has raised Mr Johal's case with his Indian counterpart on several occasions, most recently on 5 March immediately following the acquittal in one of the cases faced by Mr Johal. We continue to make clear to the Government of India that faster progress is needed towards a full resolution of Mr Johal's cases.

US immigration is a matter for the US Government, in accordance with international law. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office keeps our travel advice under regular review to ensure it provides accurate information to British nationals.

It is the longstanding policy of successive UK Governments that we do not comment on operational intelligence or security matters. The UK Government is committed to defending the integrity of the UK's democracy from all state threats, including through the Defending Democracy Taskforce (DDTF). This cross-government Taskforce brings together Ministers, along with representatives from the intelligence community and law enforcement, to coordinate the Government's work to protect our democracy and call out threats, including from Russia, China, and Iran; as the Minister whose portfolio includes national security, I represent the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) at the Taskforce. For example, in December 2023 and March 2024, the Government publicly attributed and sanctioned groups affiliated with Russia and China respectively for interfering in the UK's democracy. The FCDO will continue to work with the DDTF and with the intelligence community to protect the UK's democratic integrity.

US domestic policy is a matter for the US Government. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office provides travel advice to inform British nationals so they can make decisions about travelling abroad. We constantly review our travel advice for each country or territory to ensure it includes up-to-date information and advice on the most relevant issues for British people visiting or living there. We stand ready to provide consular support to British nationals abroad 24/7.

The Government recognises the important contribution cooperatives have made in serving local communities around the world.

Cooperatives are a tried-and-tested model in international development, that can enable citizens and producers to access services or markets and strengthen their voice in local processes. Cooperatives can enable sustainable and inclusive development centred on self-help, democratic ownership, and concern for the community. The UK has supported cooperatives and producer organisations in developing countries, including, for example in agriculture through funding to the Global Agriculture and Food Security Programme (GAFSP), which supports producer organisations, and the Commercial Agriculture for Smallholders and Agribusiness Programme (CASA), which partners with cooperatives and small agribusinesses in low-income countries to improve smallholder farmers' access to markets.

Decisions on how the Official Development Assistance budget will be used will be worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review, based on various factors including impact assessments.