Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if they will make it their policy to not provide (a) translation and (b) interpretation for speakers of non-UK languages for services provided by their Department.
Answered by Catherine West
Language service needs and spend are assessed to ensure these services offer good value for money for taxpayers while maintaining high standards of service delivery.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment (a) of the potential merits of cancelling all foreign aid to Pakistan and (b) with the Secretary of State for the Home Department of the potential merits of using that funding for a national inquiry into grooming gangs.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has transitioned from a traditional aid relationship with Pakistan to a mutually beneficial partnership which underpins UK national interests, including working with Pakistan to tackle irregular migration, terrorism and organised crime. Some of the technical assistance we provide through UK Official Development Assistance is integral to these efforts. The Home Secretary has commissioned a National Audit on Group-Based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether their Department plans to amend its policies on access to (a) toilets, (b) changing facilities and (c) other single-sex spaces in (i) Departmental buildings and (ii) other buildings within their Department’s remit following the Supreme Court judgement in the case of For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers of 16 April 2025.
Answered by Catherine West
The Supreme Court ruling made it clear that the provision of single-sex spaces is on the basis of biological sex. Providers should note and follow the ruling. It is important that we ensure dignity and respect for all. Trans people should have access to services they need but in keeping with the ruling. The Equality & Human Rights Commission (EHRC), as Britain's Equalities watchdog, is developing updated guidance to support service providers. Ministers will consider the EHRC's updated draft once they have submitted it following further work in light of this ruling. The Government is considering the implications of the Court's judgment, including what this means for Government buildings.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what (a) religious and (b) cultural holidays are observed by their Department.
Answered by Catherine West
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) welcomes staff from all religions and beliefs and aims to ensure all staff are treated with dignity and respect. The FCDO's Faith Networks can nominate up to two religious holidays per religion (Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism) to be observed each year. As a global workforce it is likely that British Embassies recognise additional religious and cultural holidays, which are celebrated in the country they reside in, as a mark of respect and to further understanding of the countries we operate in order to deliver better the outcomes for UK citizens.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the total cost to the public purse was of supporting the modernisation of the Albanian prison system.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In addition to work to disrupt Organised Immigration Crime and address the long-term drivers of migration, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Home Office and the Ministry of Justice work together to enable the return of eligible Albanian foreign national offenders to serve the remainder of their sentence in Albania. As part of an arrangement signed under the previous government in 2023 to implement the 2021 Prisoner Transfer Agreement, £4.3 million was committed over three years to support the modernisation of the Albanian prison system. We are reviewing the operation of the Prisoner Transfer Agreement with Albania signed by the previous Government to understand how more prisoners can be sent back to serve their time in Albanian prisons. During 2024,1,610 Albanian FNOs were removed from England and Wales - the highest number of any nationality and up 7% from the previous year.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will consider appealing the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea ruling on the UK's sovereignty of the Chagos Islands.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We understand this question refers to the 2021 International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea case between Mauritius and the Maldives, which concerned a maritime boundary dispute between those two States. The UK was not a party to that case.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 31 January 2025 to Question 24737 on British Indian Ocean Territory: Mauritius, what estimate he has made of the number of rounds of negotiations there will be between the UK and Mauritius Governments on the sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory before the Government brings forward a Bill to make the necessary amendments to current legislation to implement a UK/Mauritius Treaty on this matter.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As we and Mauritius have repeatedly said, including in joint statements on 20 December 2024 and on 13 January, both sides remain committed to concluding a deal on the future of the Chagos Archipelago. Once the Treaty is signed it will be laid before both Houses for scrutiny under the CRaG process and a Bill will be brought forward to make the necessary amendments to current legislation to implement the Treaty.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing legislative proposals to ensure that every line of foreign aid spending must be approved by Parliament.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds
All government spending is approved by Parliament in the Budget. There are no plans to introduce new legislation for ODA spending.
To support effective programme delivery, the publicly available FCDO Programme Operating Framework sets out the mandatory rules and the principles, controls, roles, and responsibilities for programme teams. We ensure delivery represents value for money by measuring and assessing programmes throughout their lifecycle and will work with the Independent Commission for Aid Impact to apply the highest standards to our ODA spend, including robust measures of development effectiveness.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2025 to Question 27480 on Commonwealth Scholarships Programme, if she will list the (a) subject areas and (b) courses undertaken by those funded through the Commonwealth Scholarship in the last five years.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds
The Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the UK publishes its Annual Reports, which provide information on the subject areas and courses undertaken by scholarship recipients. The most recent report was laid before Parliament on 17 December 2024 and is available on gov.uk. Further details can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/csc-annual-reports
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will publish the total cost to the public purse for the provision of diversity, equality and inclusion courses for staff in his Department in 2024.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) does not have a centrally organised Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) training offer, instead we use courses provided via Civil Service Learning. A small discretionary budget is available to support EDI work in line with the Civil Service EDI Expenditure Guidance and value for money, including to arrange training programmes according to evidenced needs. The FCDO will follow guidance from the Cabinet Office on publishing details of EDI expenditure.