Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria her Department will use to determine which countries are on the enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme.

As set out in the National Security Act 2023, the Secretary of State may make a specification under the enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS) where they consider it is reasonably necessary to do so to protect the safety or interests of the United Kingdom.

The Secretary of State will consider a broad range of UK interests when deciding if a country should be specified, and the nature and scope of any such specification. This will include how a specification would support the UK’s national security and the Government’s long-term, strategic approach to the country under consideration.