Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many Overseas Security and Justice Assistance assessments were logged with his Department by (a) the Ministry of Defence, (b) the Home Office and (c) other departments and agencies, in relation to overseas requests for case-specific assistance in (i) 2015-16, (ii) 2016-17, (iii) 2017-18, (iv) 2018-19, (v) 2019-20 and (vi) 2020-21.

The Overseas Security and Justice Assistance Guidance sets out which human rights and international humanitarian law (IHL) risks must be considered prior to providing justice or security sector assistance. It specifies that an assessment must be made of the potential impact of any proposed assistance on those risks, as well as on reputational or political risk, prior to the provision of any assistance. The Guidance applies to both case specific assistance and broader, often longer term capacity building assistance. While the FCDO is responsible for updating and maintaining the Guidance, responsibility for completing and filing the assessment sits with the department or agency delivering the assistance. An estimate of the number of OSJAs completed each year is published in the Annual Human Rights Report.