Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has made representations to her Israeli counterpart on demolition orders in Umm Al Khair in the South Hebron Hills.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We remain deeply concerned by the levels of settler violence and settlement growth in the West Bank, and we continue to urge Israel to halt evictions and demolitions of Palestinian homes in the South Hebron Hills and elsewhere.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
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 potential implications for her policies of reports that Israeli naval units intercepted vessels carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza given international maritime law; and what representations her Department has made to the Government of Israel on the matter.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 13 October to Question 77868.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Sanctions and Anti‑Money Laundering Act 2018, what steps his Department will take to ensure British Overseas Territories implement public registers of beneficial ownership in a timely fashion; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of legitimate interest access to beneficial ownership registers on levels of transparency.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Please refer to my Written Ministerial Statement of 3 July which provides an update and details of next steps.
We have made very clear to our partners in the remaining Overseas Territories the importance of delivering on the previously committed to deadlines, and have offered technical support to achieve this. We have communicated that we expect rapid and robust action to be taken, given the crucial importance of tackling illicit finance and increasing transparency. We have set out that we expect access to be granted to a wide range of legitimate users, that registers should enable proactive investigations and should act as a deterrent to those seeking to conceal illicit gains.
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office officials have conducted an in-house assessment of the latest policies and proposals from these Overseas Territories against the discussions at the Joint Ministerial Council in November 2024. In addition, we have reviewed feedback from a range of external stakeholders including expert NGOs and parliamentarians. We have also considered emerging international modalities which cover legitimate interest access registers.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department plans to continue funding Voluntary Service Overseas.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Detailed decisions on how the Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget will be used are being worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review and resource allocation processes, based on various factors including impact assessments. We are working out how our partnership with Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) should evolve in line with our new approach to civil society funding which will support the sustainability of international organisations and their partners in developing countries, enabling them to become more self-sustaining and resilient in the future. We will take a rigorous approach to ensure all ODA delivers value for money. We will publish 2025/26 ODA programme allocations in the Annual Report & Accounts this summer.