Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, What recent discussions his Department has had with partners to counter human trafficking and modern slavery in global supply chains.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The issues raised by the Hon Member are all significant priorities for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), and he can find regular updates about them by consulting the FCDO's annual reports, following the FCDO news feed on GOV.UK, or attending sessions of FCDO departmental questions.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
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 effectiveness of UK humanitarian support in conflict-affected regions over the last 12 months.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The issues raised by the Hon Member are all significant priorities for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), and he can find regular updates about them by consulting the FCDO's annual reports, following the FCDO news feed on GOV.UK, or attending sessions of FCDO departmental questions.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Department is taking to support British nationals overseas who are subject to arbitrary detention.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The issues raised by the Hon Member are all significant priorities for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), and he can find regular updates about them by consulting the FCDO's annual reports, following the FCDO news feed on GOV.UK, or attending sessions of FCDO departmental questions.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, which development programmes will continue to be funded following the planned reduction of the official development assistance budget.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Official Development Assistance (ODA) allocations and the impact on programmes are being worked through. We are taking a rigorous approach to ensure all ODA delivers value for money.
We will publish final 2025/26 ODA programme allocations in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Annual Report & Accounts this summer.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
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 secure the release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Since day one, this Government has been clear that we need to see an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages cruelly detained by Hamas, better protection of civilians, significantly more aid consistently entering Gaza, and a path to long-term peace and stability. The remaining hostages must be released and the way to return them safely is through a deal. All parties must re-engage with negotiations to get hostages out. The Foreign Secretary has visited Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories three times since taking office and has pressed for a resolution, to secure a ceasefire and see the return of hostages.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
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 Russia from continuing its invasion of Ukraine.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Putin's illegal invasion of Ukraine is a gross breach of international law and the UN Charter and directly threatens Euro-Atlantic security. The UK remains fully committed to working with our international partners to secure a just and lasting peace in Ukraine and stop future Russian aggression. We have been clear that Putin must stop his barbaric attacks on innocent civilians and agree an unconditional ceasefire. Our focus is putting Ukraine in the strongest possible position for negotiations.
To that end, we have worked with our G7 partners to implement the Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration Loans to Ukraine scheme. The UK is contributing £2.26 billion earmarked for military spending, and the first two of three payments were made in March and April, enabling Ukraine to procure the equipment it needs to stay in the fight.
We are also working with partners to increase the economic pressure on Putin, to hinder Russia's ability to wage war and bring Putin to the table to agree an enduring ceasefire and to engage in meaningful peace talks. In May, we announced our largest ever sanctions package targeting Russia's shadow fleet and a further package of over 100 targets from Russia's financial and energy sectors, and its military industrial complex, amongst others. Sanctions have deprived Russia of at least $450 billion since February 2022 restricting Putin's war machine and degrading his military.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
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 with his international counterparts to procure additional aid for Ukraine.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has committed £18 billion in support of Ukraine and we have been clear that we will support Ukraine for as long as it takes. We continue to work with our international partners to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position. This includes engaging with partners to galvanise support in preparation for the 2025 Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome in July and beyond.
We are coordinating urgent military support for Ukraine with partners through the Ukraine Defence Contact Group. At the most recent meeting on 4 June, the Defence Secretary announced we are investing a record £350 million to increase the supply of drones to 100,000 in 2025, as well as spending a further £247 million on training the Armed Forces of Ukraine this year. Two thirds of our £2.26 billion contribution to the G7 Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration Loans for Ukraine scheme has also been transferred to Ukraine so they can procure vital military equipment. This is all part of the £4.5 billion in military support that we are providing to Ukraine this year. This complements the support provided by the international Capability Coalitions, and we remain committed to co-leading the Maritime Capability Coalition with Norway and the Drone Capability Coalition with Latvia.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of value for money of his Department’s day to day spending.
Answered by Catherine West
Value for money is an intrinsic part of what we do and is embedded in our work. We have effective systems and frameworks to deliver good value for money outcomes, and we are always looking for ways to improve. The Minister for Development recently appeared before the International Development Committee to reconfirm our commitment to value for money and our plan to modernise the UK's approach to development.
The FCDO2030 reform programme is also focused on delivering the greatest possible impact for the benefit of the British people. This will be our key priority for the next Parliament.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his US counterpart on the policy of the US administration on Iran.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We work closely with the US on all our Middle East priorities, and the Foreign Secretary has specifically discussed Iran with Secretary Rubio on multiple occasions.
We fully support the US efforts to reach a negotiated solution on Iran's nuclear programme.
In parallel, we will continue to work with the US to hold Iran to account for both its malign regional activity and its state threats activity against UK-based targets, including in multilateral fora and through our sanctions regimes.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Chinese counterpart on the proposed new Chinese Embassy.
Answered by Catherine West
The Foreign Secretary has met his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, on a number of occasions. They have discussed the breadth of priority foreign policy and bilateral issues.