Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, which countries were the top 5 recipients of international climate finance from the UK in each of the last 3 years; and how much each of these countries received.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
For detail on live programme information please refer to the UK Government's Development Tracker or for the official source of information on UK Official Development Assistance spend covering previous calendar years, the Statistics on International Development publication.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help ensure British (a) embassies and (b) consulates are adequately resourced to support British citizens when abroad.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Ensuring that we have the right people in the right places to support those who require consular services is a top priority for the UK Government. We regularly review how we resource consular services to ensure we are providing the right support to British people overseas. Our Consular staff are contactable 24/7, 365 days a year, providing help to more than 25,000 British people a year around the globe, and issuing more than 30,000 emergency travel documents.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
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 help ensure religious freedom in Syria.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has consistently advocated for an inclusive political transition and underlined the importance of protecting the rights of all Syrians, regardless of religious or ethnic background. I travelled to Damascus on 27 August, and reiterated this message to Foreign Minister Al-Shaibani and Justice Minister Al-Waisi.. The Foreign Secretary also discussed this with President al Sharaa and Foreign Minister al Shaibani when he visited Damascus in July. We continue to press the Syrian Government on the need to improve their response to sectarian violence and hold those responsible to account. We welcome the provisions on freedom of expression and freedom of religion and belief in the Constitutional Declaration. We will continue to advocate for the right to freedom of religion or belief for all.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he plans to review the suitability of Syria as a recipient of foreign aid.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The humanitarian situation in Syria is dire, with over 16 million people in need of humanitarian assistance and 90 per cent of the population living in poverty. Our funding provides urgent humanitarian aid, as well as support for Syria's longer-term recovery through education and livelihoods. The UK has robust processes in place to ensure our overseas development assistance aid funding reaches those most in need, delivers value for money and protects against aid diversion. A stable Syria is firmly in the UK's interests, reducing the risk of irregular migration, terrorism and other threats to our national security.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse for the use of private jets by his Department since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Catherine West
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office incurred approximately £3,850,000 in ministerial travel costs between July 2024 and the end of March 2025. This figure is inclusive of all commercial, non-scheduled and RAF flights, as well as associated rail and car journeys. The information required to isolate only the cost of private jet usage is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. April 2025 to end June 2025 data will be published in due course via gov.uk, as part of the Quarterly Ministerial Transparency Returns.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what plans he has to meet with his counterparts in (a) the EU and (b) Spain to discuss the status of Gibraltar.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We have no plans to meet with the EU, Spain, or any other party to discuss the status of Gibraltar. This Government is fully committed to the double lock: we will never enter into arrangements under which the people of Gibraltar would pass under the sovereignty of another State against their freely and democratically expressed wishes. And we will never enter into a process of sovereignty negotiations with which Gibraltar is not content. The Foreign Secretary and I continue, side by side with the Government of Gibraltar, to work with the EU and Spain to finalise a Treaty governing Gibraltar's relationship with the EU. Political agreement, including on a clause which safeguards Gibraltar's sovereignty, was reached on 11 June and all sides are working together to finalise the Treaty as soon as possible.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much their Department has spent on translating documents into languages other than (a) English and (b) other native UK languages in each year since 2023; and what these languages were.
Answered by Catherine West
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) operates across 282 posts worldwide and has a wide range of translation and interpretation requirements across multiple foreign languages. While some translation services are specifically contracted, much of this work is likely to be part of larger programmes or ad hoc, making it very difficult to provide specific data in response to this question.
The FCDO does however procure essential translation services from FCDO Services. In the financial year 2024-25, the FCDO spend with FCDO Services on translations from English into languages other than Welsh was £133,000 (in 2023-24, it was £118,000). These translation services were used for approximately 30 different languages, predominantly for translations into Arabic, French, Spanish and the Afghan languages - Dari and Pashto.
In addition, the FCDO uses its own staff overseas or local suppliers to provide translation services when required. Machine translation, such as Google, and Artificial Intelligence are now also used.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make representations to the International Committee of the Red Cross on delivery of humanitarian supplies to Israeli hostages still held by Hamas.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK remains deeply concerned about Israeli hostages held by Hamas. We fully support the International Committee of the Red Cross's (ICRC) efforts to secure humanitarian access in line with international humanitarian law. The ICRC is the only humanitarian actor with the mandate and neutrality to carry out this role and it is vital they are granted access, as set out in the Geneva Conventions. The UK continues working with international partners to press for hostage release and improved humanitarian access.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will ensure that hon. Members are able to debate a divisible motion on the agreement with Mauritius on the Chagos Islands.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Parliamentary business will be arranged in the usual way.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps he is taking to help prevent anti-Christian (a) violence and (b) persecution in Nigeria.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK regularly advocates for the protection of all vulnerable communities, including religious minorities at the UN, and other multilateral fora. Freedom of Religion and Belief (FoRB) is regularly raised with the Nigerian Government during bilateral discussions. For example, the Minister for Africa discussed FoRB and intercommunal violence, including the impact of competition over diminishing resources, with the Nigerian Foreign Minister on 30 May. UK programming addresses the systemic causes of intercommunal violence in Nigeria through locally led peace-building efforts. Our support aims to reduce intercommunal tensions by improving national resource management in northern Nigeria, alongside access to security and justice across Nigeria.