Asked by: James McMurdock (Reform UK - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has plans to increase funding to the World Bank.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds
The UK pledged £1.98 billion to the 21st replenishment (IDA21) of the International Development Association (IDA) which works with the poorest countries globally, in late-November 2024. IDA21 runs between July 2025 and ends by June 2028. IDA's three-year replenishment cycle means donors are next scheduled to pledge in 2027. In April 2024, the UK also announced a contribution of £100 million in Hybrid Capital to the International Bank of Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), an arm that provides development finance to middle income countries. The UK remains supportive of proposals for a future IBRD general capital increase as part of wider efforts to meet the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Reform UK - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has plans to increase funding to the Asian Development Bank.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds
The UK has committed £120 million to the Asian Development Bank's Asian Development Fund thirteenth replenishment (ADF-14) over the four years 2025 to 2028. We have no plans to increase this commitment or to provide additional core funding to the Bank over this period. We are working through a Multi-Period Spending Review where all trade-offs in spend will be considered and subject to final Foreign Secretary approval.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Reform UK - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department plans to increase funding to the (a) United Nations and (b) its agencies.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is a steadfast supporter of the UN. The UK's level of funding to the UN Regular Budget is dictated by the UN's Scales of Assessment process and is based on GDP and population size. For 2025, the UK's obligatory share of the Regular Budget is 3.991% of the total UN Regular Budget. UK voluntary funding to the UN is determined on a case-by-case basis. All future UK funding to UN agencies is subject to the current Spending Review process.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Reform UK - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has plans to increase funding to the World Health Organisation.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds
In November 2024, the UK announced new funding to the World Health Organisation (WHO) in support of its delivery and transformation agenda. The UK will continue to work with the WHO, Member States and other partners to support WHO's ongoing transformation and to strengthen its efficiency, transparency and responsiveness.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Reform UK - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has plans to increase funding to UNRWA.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Since the Foreign Secretary restored funding to the United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in July 2024, the UK has committed £41 million this financial year to UNRWA, to deliver essential services for civilians in Gaza and the West Bank, and to Palestinian refugees across the region. The UK remains opposed to anti-UNRWA Knesset legislation which came into force on 30 January, and unequivocally rejects attempts to undermine or degrade UNRWA. UNRWA plays a vital role in delivering humanitarian assistance in Gaza and enabling the broader international response through its logistics and distribution network. We reiterated this position in our E3 joint Foreign Ministers' statement of 31 January, alongside France and Germany. As with all Official Development Assistance (ODA) spend, any new allocations provided to delivery partners (including UNRWA) are announced in the usual way.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Reform UK - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his European counterparts on steps to tackle Islamic extremism in Europe.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Reducing the risk to the UK and its interests overseas from terrorism, violent extremism and extremism is a high UK Government priority. These threats are global challenges and international co-operation is essential. We already work closely with our European partners on all three topics, both bilaterally and through our close security relationship with the EU. We held our first dedicated UK-EU Counter Terrorism Dialogue in February 2024 and will host the next iteration in February this year. I regularly discuss joint-working with European counterparts to tackle terrorism, violent extremism and extremism in all their forms. I work closely with my counterpart, the Home Office Security Minister and other Ministerial colleagues, on these issues.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Reform UK - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to improve (a) communication and (b) coordination with local authorities in foreign countries to improve consular assistance to British citizens.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The FCDO provides tailored consular assistance to more than 20,000 British nationals abroad in new cases every year and supports an additional c. 8,000 involved in long-running cases. In FY 2022/23 this included support to c. 4,000 arrested or detained British nationals, c.3,500 who were hospitalised and c.1,300 who were victims of crime. Consular staff also supported the families of c.4,900 who died overseas. Consular staff are contactable 24/7, 365 days a year. Staff across the FCDO network invest continually in relationships with governments, local authorities and third-party organisations around the world to enable the FCDO to support the UK's international priorities, including support for British nationals overseas.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Reform UK - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department plans to improve coordination with local governments to expedite consular processes for British citizens.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The FCDO provides tailored consular assistance to more than 20,000 British nationals abroad in new cases every year and supports an additional c. 8,000 involved in long-running cases. In FY 2022/23 this included support to c. 4,000 arrested or detained British nationals, c.3,500 who were hospitalised and c.1,300 who were victims of crime. Consular staff also supported the families of c.4,900 who died overseas. Consular staff are contactable 24/7, 365 days a year. Staff across the FCDO network invest continually in relationships with governments, local authorities and third-party organisations around the world to enable the FCDO to support the UK's international priorities, including support for British nationals overseas.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Reform UK - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to provide more effective support through (a) embassies and (b) consulates to UK nationals during crises abroad.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
FCDO consular assistance is available 24/7, 365 days a year. We have improved the ability to expand our enquiry handling during a crisis through new digital telephony and AI tools.
Whenever a major incident happens overseas and a crisis evolves that affects British nationals - a natural disaster or extreme weather event, a large-scale accident, civil unrest, terrorism or conflict - the FCDO flex and scale our consular response to support those who are directly affected. If a cross Whitehall response is required, the FCDO will lead and coordinate the UK Governments effort, this might include coordinating an assisted departure or an evacuation (as a last resort).
The FCDO is committed to learning lessons from past crises and completes a lessons-learned exercise after every crisis response. These lessons enable the FCDO to improve processes and systems, and to review what has worked to enable better preparation and mitigation of future crises. The lessons are also implemented into the continuous training offer available to FCDO staff.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Reform UK - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will take steps to improve consular services to ensure faster response times.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government is committed to strengthening consular services and continuously reviews its processes to provide an effective service to those who require consular assistance, including through feedback, insight and lessons learned. Calls to our 24/7/365 consular team are answered within the target of two minutes, and a new FCDO digital triage AI tool which British nationals responses to their questions online within seconds rather than days.