Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will publish the (a) membership and (b) remit of his Department’s Repatriation Taskforce.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's (FCDO) Repatriation Taskforce was set up in June 2020 following the Government's initial repatriation response to build a strong and well-tested capability to move people in an emergency under a range of potential future scenarios. It is based in the FCDO's Consular Directorate and constitutes officials from the Consular Directorate working closely with experts from across Government, including the Department for Transport, Civil Aviation Authority, UK Border Force, the Ministry of Defence, the Department for Health and Social Care, and Public Health England, as well as liaising with the travel industry where appropriate.

The Taskforce monitors the global situation to assess where future repatriation need might arise, maintains operational readiness to ensure that the FCDO can respond quickly and flexibly if needed, mitigates risks - including by working with airlines and other stakeholders to support the restart of commercial flights in certain countries - and has strengthened the FCDO's long-term capability by refining how it would run future charter operations. This work will transition to our Crisis Management Department at the end of December.