Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of (a) the role the UK has played in reducing the danger of piracy off the coast of Somalia and (b) the potential for such international efforts to be successfully replicated in other at-risk areas.

The UK has played a leading role in international efforts to suppress piracy off the coast of Somalia. Incidents of Somali piracy peaked at 176 in 2011. No successful attacks have occurred since 2012.

The UK provides the headquarters and Commanders to the EU and NATO naval counter piracy missions. The UK also seconds two staff to EUCAP NESTOR, the EU-led regional maritime civilian capacity building mission. Additionally, the UK co-chairs the Working Group on Capacity Building of the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia and has a seat on the UN Trust Fund, supporting initiatives of States countering piracy off the Coast of Somalia. The UK also funds projects of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime to deliver technical assistance to regional states to help establish a legal framework for the prosecution of pirates. These highly visible roles ensure that the UK is at the forefront of international efforts.