To match an exact phrase, use quotation marks around the search term. eg. "Parliamentary Estate". Use "OR" or "AND" as link words to form more complex queries.


Keep yourself up-to-date with the latest developments by exploring our subscription options to receive notifications direct to your inbox

Written Question
Israel: Arms Trade
Wednesday 27th March 2024

Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether there are pending applications for arms export licences for arms to Israel.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

The Government publishes data on export licensing decisions on a quarterly basis in the Official Statistics, including data on outcome, end user destination, overall value, type (e.g. military, other) and a summary of the items covered by these licences. This data is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/strategic-export-controls-licensing-data.The most recent Official Statistics cover the period 1 April - 30 June 2023. Information regarding export licensing decisions made between 1 July - 30 September 2023 will be published after April 2024 and information regarding export licensing decisions made between 1 October - 31 March 2024 will be published later this year.


Written Question
Gaza: Israel
Tuesday 26th March 2024

Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent assessment the International Humanitarian Law (IHL) Compliance Assessment Process has made of (a) Israel's commitment and capability to comply with International Humanitarian Law and (b) its past record of compliance with IHL.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

We have previously assessed that Israel is committed and capable of complying with International Humanitarian Law. We regularly review our assessment.

The Government operates a robust and thorough assessment of licence applications against the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria. We regularly publish data on export licensing decisions on the dedicated gov.uk site: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/strategic-export-controls-licensing-data. That data covers export licensing decisions made to the end of June 2023. Information regarding export licensing decisions made since 1 July 2023 has not yet been published.


Written Question
Israel: Arms Trade
Tuesday 26th March 2024

Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what is the value of the (a) 28 extant and (b) 28 pending arms export licences to Israel identified in the Change of Circumstances review in 2023.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

We have previously assessed that Israel is committed and capable of complying with International Humanitarian Law. We regularly review our assessment.

The Government operates a robust and thorough assessment of licence applications against the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria. We regularly publish data on export licensing decisions on the dedicated gov.uk site: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/strategic-export-controls-licensing-data. That data covers export licensing decisions made to the end of June 2023. Information regarding export licensing decisions made since 1 July 2023 has not yet been published.


Written Question
Sudan: Democracy and Human Rights
Tuesday 12th March 2024

Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of international coordination on supporting peace, human rights and democracy in Sudan.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

On Friday, the UN Security Council adopted the UK-led resolution 2724, calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Sudan during Ramadan. This resolution supports the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy, Ramtane Lamamra, to co-ordinate regional peace efforts. We continue to call on Sudan’s warring parties to commit to a meaningful peace process that will deliver the stability the Sudanese people deserve.


Written Question
Chad and Sudan: Humanitarian Aid
Wednesday 6th March 2024

Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the impact of the halting of cross-border humanitarian operations on (a) the delivery of UK aid to Sudanese refugees in Chad and (b) those displaced within Sudan.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

The UK condemns in the strongest terms the decision of the de facto authorities to stop humanitarian personnel and supplies from entering Sudan from Chad. The UK will do all we can to press for this further serious restriction on humanitarian access to be urgently lifted. On 27 February, the UK called the UN Security Council to convene for a closed consultation in response to this issue. We used this opportunity to condemn the decision and called for the re-instatement of permission for humanitarian supplies and workers to cross from Chad as well as for crossline access from Port Sudan into areas of Sudan under control of the Rapid Support Forces. We are currently urgently reviewing UKAid that may be affected to ensure our aid can still reach those in need. Given further increased risk of famine in Darfur as a result of this decision, we have also been urging the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) to make a formal warning of the risk of famine in Sudan, through the issuance of a White Note under UNSC Resolution 2417.


Written Question
Development Aid
Wednesday 28th February 2024

Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent steps his department has taken to improve the efficiency of UK aid programmes with regards to (a) reducing poverty and (b) increasing prosperity

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

Last November, the UK published the International Development White Paper which set out our agenda to re-energise progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, including the central aim of eliminating extreme poverty. To this end, the UK has committed to spend at least 50 per cent of our bilateral ODA in the Least Developed Countries by 2030.

Our goal, as set out in the White Paper, is to help countries transform the productivity of their economies at a pace sufficient to meet the needs of their growing populations, mobilise investment, provide quality jobs and deliver quality public services for their citizens.


Written Question
Development Aid
Friday 9th February 2024

Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent steps his Department has taken to improve the effectiveness of UK aid programmes in (a) reducing poverty, (b) increasing literacy rates and (c) increasing life expectancies.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

The International Development White Paper sets out the UK's agenda to re-energise progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, including the central aim of eliminating extreme poverty. To this end, the UK aims to spend at least 50 per cent of our bilateral ODA in the Least Developed Countries.

The FCDO has developed two new programmes that will measure and assess literacy rates, among other objectives. The Scaling Access and Learning in Education programme will help transform the effectiveness of education spending in low- and lower middle-income countries and improve learning outcomes, including on literacy. The Data for Foundational Learning Programme will help track children's learning outcomes globally; generate more learning data nationally; and ensure these data are used.

We are making good progress against the Global Health Framework, which outlines the UK's work on Global Health to support a positive impact on health and wellbeing and thus life expectancy. For example, we announced £5 million of additional funding to TB Alliance to support more effective drug resistant treatment with fewer side effects and £370 million to strengthen global health security at United Nations General Assembly September 2023.

Furthermore, the FCDO is committed to improving the effectiveness of all UK aid. FCDO's Programme Operating Framework maximises the impact of aid through consideration of economy, efficiency, effectiveness and equity. Programmes undergo an annual review of effectiveness, using a results framework. These are published to the Development Tracker website (https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk), which further supports aid effectiveness by providing information to inform other donors spending decisions.


Written Question
Development Aid: Sanitation and Water
Friday 9th February 2024

Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent steps his Department is taking to increase the effectiveness of its aid programmes in the context of the Government implementing the sixth sustainable development goal.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

To improve the effectiveness of UK Aid programmes that contribute to Sustainable Development Goal 6, the UK Government has shifted our approach from the direct provision of services to supporting partner governments to strengthen systems, a key theme in the recently published International Development White Paper. Our new WASH Systems for Health programme, mobilising in Bangladesh, Nepal, Malawi, Tanzania, Sierra Leone and Nigeria, contributes to this shift. We also use our convening power on the world stage, for example through chairing sessions at UN Water 2023 or via Sanitation and Water for All, to influence broader sector change.


Written Question
Gaza: Charities
Monday 5th February 2024

Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, which properties of UK charities in Gaza have been hit by Israeli military strikes.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

We are aware of the air strike that hit the residential compound housing the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) Emergency Medical Team (EMT). Israel has a right to defend itself against Hamas, but it must comply with International Humanitarian Law (IHL); including the protection of hospitals, civilians, and medical staff. We want to see Israel take greater care to limit its operations to military targets and avoid harming civilians.


Written Question
British Nationals Abroad: Detainees
Friday 2nd February 2024

Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether his Department has taken recent steps to improve the Government’s effectiveness in achieving the release of British nationals overseas.

Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) consular staff are available to offer appropriate and tailored support to British nationals and their families, 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days a year. Consular staff work tirelessly to give support to the c.4000 British nationals who are arrested or detained each year. We tailor the consular assistance we provide to British nationals who have been arrested or detained abroad depending on their specific circumstances. This includes raising individual cases with the relevant overseas authorities, including at Ministerial level, where appropriate. The FCDO seek continuously to improve our processes and services by acting on feedback and reviewing what we do.