Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department takes to help safeguard the (a) rights and (b) welfare of British nationals detained overseas.

Our consular staff endeavour to give appropriate and tailored support to British nationals overseas and their families in the UK, 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days a year. We help around 30,000 British nationals abroad every year.

Consular staff work tirelessly to give support to the c.4000 British nationals who are arrested or detained each year. Our support is tailored to the needs of the individual and their situation. This includes raising individual cases with the relevant overseas authorities, including at Ministerial level, where appropriate.

What we can and cannot do is set out in our public guidance on gov.uk. It includes further and updated information on what we can seek to do for victims of torture and mistreatment, and for those detained overseas. The level and type of assistance we offer is tailored to the individual circumstances of each case but we take all allegations of torture or mistreatment very seriously, treat those who have made allegations of torture and mistreatment as vulnerable cases and follow up with action appropriate to the circumstances of each case. The FCDO records all information about allegations of torture and mistreatment reported to us by British Nationals, and any actions taken in response to those allegations.