Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
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 ensure that UK exports are not used to help facilitate potential human rights abuses.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Each export licence application is assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria, which provides a thorough risk assessment framework. The Government will not grant an export licence if to do so would be inconsistent with the Criteria for a controlled item. The Criteria require us to carefully consider the impact of the export of items and their capabilities. Risks around human rights violations and abuses are a key part of our assessment. The Government will not grant a licence for items where we determine there is a clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate internal repression which includes a serious violation of human rights.
Legislation also expressly provides for these stringent processes and standards to be applied to non-controlled goods on a case-by-case basis, items intended for use by the military, paramilitary, security forces (including government intelligence organisations), or police forces of a destination, subject to an arms embargo.
We can and do respond quickly and flexibly to changing or fluid international situations. All licences are kept under review as standard.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
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 support African countries whose economies are affected by debt repayments.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Supporting all developing countries -including those in Africa - to tackle unsustainable debt is a key development priority of this government. We are working with all our partners to support sustainable debt and ensure all countries have the fiscal space to invest and grow. Where we are a creditor, we have fully engaged in multilateral negotiations with debtor countries via the Paris Club and G20 Common Framework mechanisms to put their debt back on a sustainable trajectory.
We welcome the G20 Common Framework debt agreements with Zambia and Ghana achieved last year but recognise these treatments took too long. We are therefore calling for efforts to strengthen, speed up and expand the Common Framework to all low and middle-income countries, whilst also building the enabling environment for more sustainable and transparent lending and strengthened public financial management. The Chancellor has recently announced the London Coalition on Sustainable Debt to progress these objectives with the private creditors.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he is having with (a) the Government of Pakistan and (b) other international partners on incidents of Ahmadiyya Muslims being barred from congregational Eid worship; and whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of such incidents on levels of human rights in Pakistan.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Promoting freedom of religion or belief is a core part of the UK's diplomatic engagement overseas. We are concerned by the deteriorating situation for Ahmadi Muslims in Pakistan, including reports they were prevented from offering prayers over Ramadan and Eid. I discussed the right of Ahmadi Muslims to practice their faith in a meeting with Pakistan's Minister of State for the Interior, Talal Chaudhry, on 31 March. On 16 April, Lord Khan of Burnley raised Ahmadi rights in a meeting with Pakistan's Minster for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony, Sardar Muhammad Yousaf. The UK Government regularly engages with members of the Ahmadi community, both in Pakistan and the UK, to inform our understanding of the issues they are facing. We will continue to urge the Government of Pakistan to guarantee the rights of all people in accordance with international standards.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South 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 potential impact of the planned reduction to ODA spending on the UK's commitment to the Agenda 2030 leaving-no-one- behind principle.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Reducing the overall size of our Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget will necessarily have an impact on the scale and shape of the work we do. Decisions on how the ODA budget will be used are being worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review, based on various factors including impact assessments. The UK remains committed to Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as the underlying principle to leave no one behind. We will continue to work with partners at home and internationally to accelerate progress towards the SDGs.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he will consider reallocating proposed capital financing for British International Investment to aid spending.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
All development funding, including for British International Investment, will be considered as part of the ongoing multi-year spending review and subsequent resource allocation round.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Foreign Secretary launches expert reviews to strengthen UK’s global impact and expertise, published on 9 September 2024, when he plans to publish the findings of the three reviews.
Answered by Catherine West
The reviews' reports take the form of unpublished independent advice to the Foreign Secretary. A decision on how best to communicate the independent reviews' findings will be taken in due course by the Foreign Secretary.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South 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 progress made on the introduction of a publicly accessible register on beneficial ownership of businesses registered in their jurisdiction by each British Overseas Territory.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
At the Overseas Territories Joint Ministerial Council (JMC) in November 2024, the Falkland Islands and Saint Helena committed to implement fully public registers by April 2025. The British Virgin Islands (BVI), Cayman Islands, Bermuda, Anguilla and Turks and Caicos Islands agreed to implement registers of beneficial ownership, accessible to those with a legitimate interest, by June 2025. It remains our expectation that the Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies will ultimately implement fully public registers as those that are already in place in Gibraltar and Montserrat.
I discussed progress on beneficial ownership transparency with Premier Wheatley (BVI) last month. A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) senior official visited BVI earlier this month and met with government and the finance industry. Every Territory is making progress towards the JMC commitments and FCDO officials are in regular contact with counterparts in the Overseas Territories on their proposals for registers to ensure they meet the agreement made at the JMC. I have and will continue to raise this directly with elected leaders across the Overseas Territories.
The Government is keeping this under close review and will carefully consider what further steps to take if the registers are not delivered as per JMC agreements.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South 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 counterparts in (a) the British Virgin Islands and (b) the Cayman Islands on the introduction of public registers of beneficial ownership.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
At the Overseas Territories Joint Ministerial Council (JMC) in November 2024, the Falkland Islands and Saint Helena committed to implement fully public registers by April 2025. The British Virgin Islands (BVI), Cayman Islands, Bermuda, Anguilla and Turks and Caicos Islands agreed to implement registers of beneficial ownership, accessible to those with a legitimate interest, by June 2025. It remains our expectation that the Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies will ultimately implement fully public registers as those that are already in place in Gibraltar and Montserrat.
I discussed progress on beneficial ownership transparency with Premier Wheatley (BVI) last month. A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) senior official visited BVI earlier this month and met with government and the finance industry. Every Territory is making progress towards the JMC commitments and FCDO officials are in regular contact with counterparts in the Overseas Territories on their proposals for registers to ensure they meet the agreement made at the JMC. I have and will continue to raise this directly with elected leaders across the Overseas Territories.
The Government is keeping this under close review and will carefully consider what further steps to take if the registers are not delivered as per JMC agreements.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South 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 potential impact of changes to the Official Development Assistance budget on (a) education and (b) health outcomes in Malawi.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government remains committed to working in partnership with Malawi, to support its development. Our current development assistance focuses on strengthening health systems, improving education outcomes, supporting economic development and climate resilience. As the UK transitions to an Official Development Assistance budget of 0.3 per cent of gross national income globally, we will continue to prioritise aid effectiveness and targeting assistance where it can have the greatest impact.