Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall and Bloxwich)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many visitors from (a) India, (b) Pakistan, (c) Bangladesh and (d) Nepal were refused visas in 2024.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes data on entry clearance visas by visa route, including Visitor visas, and nationality in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on visa applications refused are published in table ‘Vis_D02’ of the detailed entry clearance visas dataset. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data is from January 2005 up to the end of September 2025.
Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.
Asked by: Gareth Snell (Labour (Co-op) - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether it is her Department's policy that people in Kashmir have the right to self determination.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
It is the UK's long-standing policy that it is for India and Pakistan to find a lasting political resolution on Kashmir, taking into account the wishes of the Kashmiri people.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with her Indian and Pakistani counterparts on human rights violations in Kashmir and the potential impact of those violations on its diaspora in the UK.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government continues to monitor the human rights situation in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and Indian-administered Kashmir. We raise concerns, where we have them, directly with the Governments of India and Pakistan. We have consistently emphasised that any alleged human rights violations should be fully investigated in line with international human rights law. Ministers have also acknowledged the importance of community cohesion in the UK and the sensitivities of diaspora communities affected by developments in the region.
Asked by: Lord Risby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of foreign investment in the UK comes from countries situated in (1) the European Union, (2) the Commonwealth and (3) the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership area.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
Please see the letter attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority.
Darren Tierney | Permanent Secretary
The Lord Risby
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
25 November 2025
Dear Lord Risby,
As Permanent Secretary of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I am responding to your Parliamentary Question to asking what proportion of foreign investment in the UK comes from countries situated in (1) the European Union, (2) the Commonwealth and (3) the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership area (HL12070).
Our statistics for inward Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) positions measure the investment held by UK-resident companies that have foreign immediate parent companies. These are essentially the stock of investment held at a point in time. Table 3.1 of our annual Foreign direct investment involving UK companies (directional): inward statistics shows that the stock of inward direct investment from the European Union was £758,137 million at the end of 2023[1]. This was equivalent to 34.8% of the UK total inward FDI position.
We do not publish a total value for inward FDI with the Commonwealth. However, we have published FDI statistics for all countries. Table 1 below includes the FDI inward FDI position values and percentage of the UK total FDI position accounted for by each Commonwealth country in 2023.
We also do not routinely publish a total value for inward FDI with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) countries. However, we have published FDI statistics for all countries. Table 2 below includes the FDI inward position values and percentage of the UK total accounted for by each member of the CPTPP in 2023.
Yours sincerely,
Darren Tierney
Table 1: Inward foreign direct investment positions with Commonwealth countries at the end of 2023, £ million and as a percentage of the UK total inward FDI position[2],[3],[4],[5],[6]
Economy | Value (£ million) | Percentage of UK total |
Antigua and Barbuda | 2 | 0.0 |
Australia | 20,781 | 1.0 |
The Bahamas | c | z |
Bangladesh | 1,060 | 0.0 |
Barbados | 19,190 | 0.9 |
Belize | 44 | 0.0 |
Botswana | 16 | 0.0 |
Brunei Darussalam | 6 | 0.0 |
Cameroon | 3 | 0.0 |
Canada | 29,513 | 1.4 |
Cyprus | 6,065 | 0.3 |
Dominica | 6 | 0.0 |
Eswatini | low | 0.0 |
Fiji | 8 | 0.0 |
Gabon | 1 | 0.0 |
The Gambia | 4 | 0.0 |
Ghana | 674 | 0.0 |
Grenada | low | 0.0 |
Guyana | 1 | 0.0 |
India | 12,419 | 0.6 |
Jamaica | 37 | 0.0 |
Kenya | 24 | 0.0 |
Kiribati | low | 0.0 |
Lesotho | low | 0.0 |
Malawi | 4 | 0.0 |
Malaysia | 1,679 | 0.1 |
Maldives | low | 0.0 |
Malta | 6,554 | 0.3 |
Mauritius | 689 | 0.0 |
Mozambique | low | 0.0 |
Namibia | 3 | 0.0 |
Nauru | low | 0.0 |
New Zealand | 908 | 0.0 |
Nigeria | 489 | 0.0 |
Pakistan | 90 | 0.0 |
Papua New Guinea | 2 | 0.0 |
Rwanda | 671 | 0.0 |
St Kitts and Nevis | 31 | 0.0 |
Saint Lucia | 7 | 0.0 |
St Vincent and the Grenadines | 19 | 0.0 |
Samoa | 219 | 0.0 |
Seychelles | 152 | 0.0 |
Sierra Leone | 2 | 0.0 |
Singapore | 19,107 | 0.9 |
Solomon Islands | low | 0.0 |
South Africa | 3,641 | 0.2 |
Sri Lanka | 13,124 | 0.6 |
Tanzania | 2 | 0.0 |
Togo | low | 0.0 |
Tonga | low | 0.0 |
Trinidad and Tobago | 1 | 0.0 |
Tuvalu | low | 0.0 |
Uganda | 5 | 0.0 |
Vanuatu | 8 | 0.0 |
Zambia | 3 | 0.0 |
Table 2: Inward foreign direct investment positions with Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership countries at the end of 2023,
£ million and as a percentage of the UK total 3,5,6,[7]
Economy | Value (£ million) | Percentage of UK total |
Australia | 20,781 | 1.0 |
Brunei Darussalam | 6 | 0.0 |
Canada | 29,513 | 1.4 |
Chile | c | z |
Japan | 78,424 | 3.6 |
Malaysia | 1,679 | 0.1 |
Mexico | c | z |
New Zealand | 908 | 0.0 |
Peru | 7 | 0.0 |
Singapore | 19,107 | 0.9 |
Vietnam | 9 | 0.0 |
[2] There were 55 other members of the Commonwealth plus the UK as of 21 November 2025 according to the Commonwealth Secretariat: https://thecommonwealth.org/our-member-countries
[3] “c” denotes value suppressed to protect confidentiality so that individual companies cannot be identified.
[4] “low” denotes a value below £0.5 million.
[5] “z” is used where the country value is suppressed, and the percentage of the UK total will not be available.
[7] CPTPP membership was taken from gov.uk, and includes the members that had ratified the UK’s accession and those that had yet to ratify as of 21 November 2025
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to foster dialogue between India and Pakistan on peace in Kashmir.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to question 82344.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support dialogue between India and Pakistan.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
India and Pakistan are both long-standing, important friends of the UK. We continue to encourage both to engage in dialogue and to find lasting political solutions to support regional stability. The UK has engaged extensively with both countries, as have other key states, in order to encourage India and Pakistan to return to diplomacy. I remain concerned by the potential for future escalation, which neither the region nor the wider world could afford.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much funding she plans to provide to support UN peacekeeping operations in (a) 2025-26 and (b) 2026-27.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
For the 2025/26 peacekeeping fiscal year (July to June), the UK's mandatory contribution to the United Nations (UN) Peacekeeping Budget will be $245 million (4.7454 per cent) of a budget of $5.16 billion. Further funding will be required for the 2025/26 UK fiscal year following the Security Council's decision in September 2025 to establish a UN Support Office in Haiti, but the cost is yet to be confirmed. In addition, two UN Peacekeeping Operations are funded from the UN Regular Budget; the UN Military Observer Group for India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) and the UN Truce Supervision Organisation (UNTSO). Their respective budgets for the 2025 UN Regular Budget fiscal year (January to December) are approximately $9.680 million and approximately $41.4 million. The UK's contribution to the UN Regular Budget is 3.991 per cent. UN peacekeeping budgets are negotiated from May to June so figures for the UK's contribution in 2026/2027 will be available once budgets are confirmed. The UK has forecast for the entirety of the UN Regular Budget for 2026, so it is difficult to provide individual figures for both UNMOGIP and UNTSO budgets until they are agreed.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) political and (b) security situation in Pakistan.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Pakistan remains a valued bilateral partner. We closely follow political developments in Pakistan and continue to advocate for democratic principles and the rule of law. On security, we are concerned by the impact of militant violence in Pakistan and recent regional tensions. We welcome the 10th May cessation of hostilities following the escalation of tensions between India and Pakistan. The Foreign Secretary discussed these issues with Pakistan's Prime Minister and Interior Minister on his recent visit to Islamabad in May, and more recently with Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister. We advise British nationals to consult our travel advice regularly.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much their Department has spent on translating documents into languages other than (a) English and (b) other native UK languages in each year since 2023; and what these languages were.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice has a statutory duty to provide Language Services to enable access to justice for users for whom English is not their first language and those who require visual and tactile services, under the provision of the Equality Act.
Language Service needs and spend are assessed to ensure these services offer good value for money for taxpayers while maintaining high standards of service delivery.
In FY 23/24 the total contracted spend was £915,037.52.
In FY 24/25 the total contracted spend was £1,003,283.32.
In FY 25/26 so far, the total contracted spend is £256,707.82.
The languages in this data exclude written translations into English, Welsh and Braille.
The languages translated into from English (United Kingdom) are:
Albanian (Albania)
Amharic (Ethiopia)
Arabic (Classical)
Arabic (Egypt)
Arabic (Modern Standard) Middle Eastern
Arabic (Modern Standard) North African
Arabic (Morocco)
Armenian (Armenia)
Bangla (Bangladesh)
Bosnian (Latin, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Bulgarian (Bulgaria)
Burmese
Burmese (Myanmar)
Catalan (Catalan)
Chinese (Simplified)
Chinese (Traditional)
Croatian (Latin, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Czech (Czech Republic)
Danish (Denmark)
Dari (Afghanistan)
Dutch (Netherlands)
Estonian (Estonia)
Filipino (Philippines)
Finnish (Finland)
French (Belgium)
French (France)
Georgian (Georgia)
German (Austria)
German (Germany)
Greek (Greece)
Gujarati (India)
Hebrew (Israel)
Hindi (India)
Hungarian (Hungary)
Icelandic (Iceland)
Indonesian (Indonesia)
Italian (Italy)
Japanese (Japan)
Kinyarwanda (Rwanda)
Kiswahili (Kenya)
Korean (Korea)
Kurdish (Bahdini)
Kurdish (Sorani)
Latvian (Latvia)
Lingala (Congo DRC)
Lithuanian (Lithuania)
Macedonian (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia)
Malay (Malaysia)
Malayalam (India)
Maltese (Malta)
Mirpuri (Central Asia)
Mongolian (Cyrillic, Mongolia)
Nepali (Nepal)
Norwegian, Bokmål (Norway)
Norwegian, Nynorsk (Norway)
Oromo (Ethiopia)
PahariPotwari (Central Asia)
Pashto (Afghanistan)
Persian (Afghanistan)
Persian (Iran)
Polish (Poland)
Portuguese (Brazil)
Portuguese (Portugal)
Punjabi (India)
Punjabi (Pakistan)
Romanian (Romania)
Romany (Europe)
Russian (Russia)
Serbian (Cyrillic, Serbia)
Serbian (Latin, Serbia)
Shona (Latin, Zimbabwe)
Sinhala (Sri Lanka)
Slovak (Slovakia)
Slovenian (Slovenia)
Somali (Somalia)
Spanish (Argentina)
Spanish (Latin America)
Spanish (Mexico)
Spanish (Spain)
Swedish (Sweden)
Tajik (Cyrillic, Tajikistan)
Tamazight (Latin, Algeria)
Tamil (India)
Tetum (Timor)
Thai (Thailand)
Tigrinya (Eritrea)
Turkish (Turkey)
Ukranian (Ukraine)
Urdu (Islamic Republic of Pakistan)
Uzbek (Latin, Uzbekistan)
Vietnamese (Vietnam)
Wolof (Senegal)
Yoruba (Nigeria)
The Languages translated into from English (United States) are:
Arabic (Egypt)
Hungarian (Hungary)
Polish (Poland)
Romanian (Romania)
Asked by: Gareth Snell (Labour (Co-op) - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether it is his Department's policy that the people of Kashmir should have the right to a referendum to determine their future.
Answered by Catherine West
India and Pakistan are important friends of the UK.
We encourage both to engage in dialogue and find lasting, diplomatic solutions to maintain regional stability.
The UK Government’s longstanding position on Kashmir that it is for India and Pakistan to find a lasting political resolution on Kashmir, considering the wishes of Kashmiri people.