Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking with international partners to help ensure that all aid crossings into Gaza are fully operational.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 11 December to Question 91356.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with Israeli counterparts to support the unrestricted operation of international NGOs in Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 11 December to Question 91356.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when the Minister for the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan plans to respond to correspondence from the hon. Member for Arbroath and Broughty Ferry of 23rd October 2025 on the FBU donation to Nablus Fire Department.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I apologise for the delay in responding to the Hon. Member's correspondence. I will issue a reply shortly.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to respond to correspondence from the hon. Member for Arbroath and Broughty Ferry of 24 October 2025, with the transfer to his department accepted on 3 November 2025.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I responded to the hon. Member on 8 December 2025 (our ref: MC2025/27344).
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh since the signing of the Joint Declaration between Armenia and Azerbaijan in Washington DC in August 2025.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 3 September to Question 69852.
I met both the Armenian and Azerbaijan Foreign Ministers for constructive discussions in the margins of the OSCE Ministerial on 5 December 2025.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of Russian interference in the internal affairs of Bosnia and Hercegovina.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK opposes any attempts by Russia or other states to interfere in the internal affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). The UK works with BiH authorities and international partners to counter destabilising Russian interference, including to address disinformation campaigns, dependence on Russian energy, and vulnerability to political and economic coercion. We are working to bolster independent media in BiH. This financial year we are investing £400,000 to improve BiH's cyber defences. The UK Special Envoy for the Western Balkans reaffirmed our support for BiH's sovereignty during a meeting with BiH Presidency Chair Željko Komšić in London on 4 December.
I met Foreign Minister Konakovic on 5 December in the margins of the OSCE Ministerial meeting to discuss our continued support for peace and stability in BiH and the wider region.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help support biodiversity in Colombia.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK supports biodiversity in Colombia through the UK-Colombia Partnership for Sustainable Growth and a range of other programmes and initiatives, including the Blue Planet Fund, the Global Plastic Action Partnership, the Global Centre on Biodiversity for Climate, the Sustainable Forest Territories programme, the Darwin Initiative and Biodiversity Challenge Funds.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the response received to written question 44482 answered on 23 April 2025, what progress she has made on recruiting Driving Examiners at i) Arbroath Test Centre and ii) Dundee Test Centre.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
DVSA has agreed with the Ministry of Defence (MOD) that 36 defence driving examiners (DDE) will carry out driving tests. The DDEs will be based at the driving test centre (DTC) with the highest demand near either their MOD base location or where they live. These locations are in England.
To ensure fairness for everyone wanting to book a practical driving test, DVSA continues to work hard to combat the unscrupulous practice of reselling tests across the country.
Alongside military support, DVSA is introducing new rules to tackle unfair booking practices that have allowed bots and resellers to profit at learners’ expense.
Further details on the steps announced 12 November, can be found on GOV.UK: Mirror, signal, manoeuvres: Military driving examiners mobilised to cut test backlog - GOV.UK
DVSA is continuing with recruitment campaigns across the country to provide as many tests as possible. A full-time driving examiner (DE) can be expected to add approximately 1,200 tests per year to the booking system.
For Arbroath and Dundee DTCs, whilst one candidate did not successfully complete their training earlier this year, DVSA successfully recruited an additional DE for Dundee DTC during the summer.
DVSA is launching a new recruitment campaign for DE positions at Dundee in the coming weeks, with the aim for successful candidates to be in place by early 2026.
Additionally, to further support test availability in Dundee & Arbroath, DVSA are transferring an examiner to Dundee DTC. DVSA anticipate that their transfer will be finalised by early 2026 as well.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to deploy defence driving examiners in Scotland to help reduce the backlog of learners waiting for a driving test.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
DVSA has agreed with the Ministry of Defence (MOD) that 36 defence driving examiners (DDE) will carry out driving tests. The DDEs will be based at the driving test centre (DTC) with the highest demand near either their MOD base location or where they live. These locations are in England.
To ensure fairness for everyone wanting to book a practical driving test, DVSA continues to work hard to combat the unscrupulous practice of reselling tests across the country.
Alongside military support, DVSA is introducing new rules to tackle unfair booking practices that have allowed bots and resellers to profit at learners’ expense.
Further details on the steps announced 12 November, can be found on GOV.UK: Mirror, signal, manoeuvres: Military driving examiners mobilised to cut test backlog - GOV.UK
DVSA is continuing with recruitment campaigns across the country to provide as many tests as possible. A full-time driving examiner (DE) can be expected to add approximately 1,200 tests per year to the booking system.
For Arbroath and Dundee DTCs, whilst one candidate did not successfully complete their training earlier this year, DVSA successfully recruited an additional DE for Dundee DTC during the summer.
DVSA is launching a new recruitment campaign for DE positions at Dundee in the coming weeks, with the aim for successful candidates to be in place by early 2026.
Additionally, to further support test availability in Dundee & Arbroath, DVSA are transferring an examiner to Dundee DTC. DVSA anticipate that their transfer will be finalised by early 2026 as well.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to help prevent companies adding premiums to third party booking of driving tests.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
DVSA has agreed with the Ministry of Defence (MOD) that 36 defence driving examiners (DDE) will carry out driving tests. The DDEs will be based at the driving test centre (DTC) with the highest demand near either their MOD base location or where they live. These locations are in England.
To ensure fairness for everyone wanting to book a practical driving test, DVSA continues to work hard to combat the unscrupulous practice of reselling tests across the country.
Alongside military support, DVSA is introducing new rules to tackle unfair booking practices that have allowed bots and resellers to profit at learners’ expense.
Further details on the steps announced 12 November, can be found on GOV.UK: Mirror, signal, manoeuvres: Military driving examiners mobilised to cut test backlog - GOV.UK
DVSA is continuing with recruitment campaigns across the country to provide as many tests as possible. A full-time driving examiner (DE) can be expected to add approximately 1,200 tests per year to the booking system.
For Arbroath and Dundee DTCs, whilst one candidate did not successfully complete their training earlier this year, DVSA successfully recruited an additional DE for Dundee DTC during the summer.
DVSA is launching a new recruitment campaign for DE positions at Dundee in the coming weeks, with the aim for successful candidates to be in place by early 2026.
Additionally, to further support test availability in Dundee & Arbroath, DVSA are transferring an examiner to Dundee DTC. DVSA anticipate that their transfer will be finalised by early 2026 as well.