Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the staffing requirements needed to support expanded UK engagement in Indo-Pacific economic initiatives.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Building strong relationships in the Indo-Pacific is crucial to the UK's long-term economic growth. The global economic centre of gravity is already shifting - by 2050 the Indo-Pacific region will generate over half of global growth.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office continues to work closely with the Department for Business and Trade, and other colleagues, to ensure that our work in the Indo-Pacific supports the delivery of the UK's Industrial and Trade Strategies, including securing the UK-India Free Trade Agreement and finalising UK accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. UK Diplomatic Posts in the Indo-Pacific incorporate relevant regional strategic priorities into their country plans, and all Posts provide twice-yearly updates against the objectives set out in those plans.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what mechanisms she uses to evaluate the performance of UK posts in delivering Indo-Pacific strategic priorities.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Building strong relationships in the Indo-Pacific is crucial to the UK's long-term economic growth. The global economic centre of gravity is already shifting - by 2050 the Indo-Pacific region will generate over half of global growth.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office continues to work closely with the Department for Business and Trade, and other colleagues, to ensure that our work in the Indo-Pacific supports the delivery of the UK's Industrial and Trade Strategies, including securing the UK-India Free Trade Agreement and finalising UK accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. UK Diplomatic Posts in the Indo-Pacific incorporate relevant regional strategic priorities into their country plans, and all Posts provide twice-yearly updates against the objectives set out in those plans.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that UK Indo-Pacific policy is aligned with domestic trade and investment objectives.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Building strong relationships in the Indo-Pacific is crucial to the UK's long-term economic growth. The global economic centre of gravity is already shifting - by 2050 the Indo-Pacific region will generate over half of global growth.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office continues to work closely with the Department for Business and Trade, and other colleagues, to ensure that our work in the Indo-Pacific supports the delivery of the UK's Industrial and Trade Strategies, including securing the UK-India Free Trade Agreement and finalising UK accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. UK Diplomatic Posts in the Indo-Pacific incorporate relevant regional strategic priorities into their country plans, and all Posts provide twice-yearly updates against the objectives set out in those plans.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with the Department for Business and Trade on resourcing UK participation in Indo-Pacific market-access programmes.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Building strong relationships in the Indo-Pacific is crucial to the UK's long-term economic growth. The global economic centre of gravity is already shifting - by 2050 the Indo-Pacific region will generate over half of global growth.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office continues to work closely with the Department for Business and Trade, and other colleagues, to ensure that our work in the Indo-Pacific supports the delivery of the UK's Industrial and Trade Strategies, including securing the UK-India Free Trade Agreement and finalising UK accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. UK Diplomatic Posts in the Indo-Pacific incorporate relevant regional strategic priorities into their country plans, and all Posts provide twice-yearly updates against the objectives set out in those plans.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the Department has established metrics for tracking economic diversification outcomes in supported Overseas Territories.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Department assesses the financial sustainability of long-term UK-funded capacity-building projects through its business case process, annual reviews and Project Completion Reviews. During delivery, sustainability is monitored through quarterly progress reports and annual reviews, which include checks on financial performance, risk management and alignment with agreed objectives. Programme Responsible Owners (PROs) apply the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's Programme Operating Framework (PrOF) to ensure ongoing viability, using tools such as risk registers, results frameworks and value-for-money assessments throughout the project lifecycle.
UK support to aided Overseas Territories contributes to economic diversification and local capacity-building in line with our commitment to the prosperity of the whole UK family. Various metrics such as visitor numbers and overall GDP growth are used to track outcomes, as appropriate for each territory and in line with programme operating framework requirements.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what reporting requirements exist for Overseas Territories accessing UK technical assistance programmes.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Department assesses the financial sustainability of long-term UK-funded capacity-building projects through its business case process, annual reviews and Project Completion Reviews. During delivery, sustainability is monitored through quarterly progress reports and annual reviews, which include checks on financial performance, risk management and alignment with agreed objectives. Programme Responsible Owners (PROs) apply the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's Programme Operating Framework (PrOF) to ensure ongoing viability, using tools such as risk registers, results frameworks and value-for-money assessments throughout the project lifecycle.
UK support to aided Overseas Territories contributes to economic diversification and local capacity-building in line with our commitment to the prosperity of the whole UK family. Various metrics such as visitor numbers and overall GDP growth are used to track outcomes, as appropriate for each territory and in line with programme operating framework requirements.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what methodology the Department uses to assess the financial sustainability of long-term UK-funded capacity-building projects.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Department assesses the financial sustainability of long-term UK-funded capacity-building projects through its business case process, annual reviews and Project Completion Reviews. During delivery, sustainability is monitored through quarterly progress reports and annual reviews, which include checks on financial performance, risk management and alignment with agreed objectives. Programme Responsible Owners (PROs) apply the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's Programme Operating Framework (PrOF) to ensure ongoing viability, using tools such as risk registers, results frameworks and value-for-money assessments throughout the project lifecycle.
UK support to aided Overseas Territories contributes to economic diversification and local capacity-building in line with our commitment to the prosperity of the whole UK family. Various metrics such as visitor numbers and overall GDP growth are used to track outcomes, as appropriate for each territory and in line with programme operating framework requirements.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department has agreed trackable benchmarks for UK-EU security collaboration programmes.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, working with Cabinet Office, Ministry of Defence and other partners are closely tracking and assessing delivery of the UK-EU Security and Defence Partnership. We hold six-monthly dialogues with the EU led by the Foreign Secretary and Defence Secretary, along with regular dialogues at official level on a range of areas. Cooperation has already intensified on priorities such as support to Ukraine, tackling hybrid threats, and stability in the Western Balkans.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to measure the potential impact of UK leadership in multilateral development fora on global poverty reduction outcomes.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government is committed to working with a range of multilateral organisations and international institutions to pursue our shared goals across a number of policy objectives, including sustainable development and poverty reduction.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department has identified priority sectors for future UK-backed multilateral development funding following the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund 2025, Development Committee plenary, October 2025.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government is committed to working with a range of multilateral organisations and international institutions to pursue our shared goals across a number of policy objectives, including sustainable development and poverty reduction.