Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if her Department will undertake a review of its explosive ordinance policies.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government's Global Mine Action Programme has been funding clearance and risk education for over a decade, including in Africa, protecting lives and livelihoods, and supporting our broader humanitarian and development goals. In addition, the Foreign Secretary recently announced a further £4 million in funding for the United Nations Mine Action Service to help clear the estimated 7,500 tonnes of unexploded munitions which have been preventing the safe passage of aid into Gaza. Future allocations to demining activity will be announced in the usual way in due course.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many and what proportion of civil servants in her Department are (a) on temporary contract and (b) consultants.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Information on the number of civil servants employed on temporary contracts is published quarterly by the Office for National Statistics as part of the quarterly Public Sector Employment statistics. Information can be accessed for September 2025 at the following web address:
https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/publicsectorpersonnel/bulletins/publicsectoremployment/september2025.
Departmental expenditure on consultancy is published within the Annual Report and Accounts. The latest report for Financial Year 2024/25 can be found at the following web address:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fcdo-annual-report-and-accounts-2024-to-2025.
Asked by: Seamus Logan (Scottish National Party - Aberdeenshire North and Moray East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with regards to the Prime Minister's announcement on the 15th April 2025 to spend £120M in emergency aid Sudan, a) which governmental budget this originates from and b) which budgetary line emergency humanitarian aid appears under in the FCDO annual report and accounts published on the 31st March 2025.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The £120 million Sudan allocation announced in April 2025 is funded from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's (FCDO) Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget.
Humanitarian ODA allocations are included in country programme budgets, as set out in the FCDO annual report and accounts (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fcdo-annual-report-and-accounts-2024-to-2025). Additional emergency humanitarian support comes from the crisis reserve, which is also set out in the FCDO annual report and accounts.
Data on ODA spend for 2020 to 2024 is published in Statistics on International Development (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistics-on-international-development-final-uk-oda-spend-2024), including breakdowns by country and region.
Figures for 2025 and 2026 will be published in due course.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether it is their official policy to omit mention of the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the imprisonment of Jimmy Lai when ministers discuss the UK-Hong Kong bilateral relationship in the press.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
On the contrary, ministers and officials regularly raise the continued detention of Jimmy Lai, and China's obligations under the Sino-British Joint Declaration, in interviews with the media, statements to Parliament, public speeches, the government's Six-monthly Reports to Parliament on Hong Kong, and discussions we have with our Chinese counterparts. For example, the Foreign Secretary raised Jimmy Lai's case both in her working dinner with G7 foreign ministers in Canada on 11 November, and a phone call with her Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, on 6 November.
Asked by: Seamus Logan (Scottish National Party - Aberdeenshire North and Moray East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much total spend, and predicted spend in Sudan, originating from the FCDO ODA budget for bilateral aid there was, and will be, in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The £120 million Sudan allocation announced in April 2025 is funded from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's (FCDO) Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget.
Humanitarian ODA allocations are included in country programme budgets, as set out in the FCDO annual report and accounts (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fcdo-annual-report-and-accounts-2024-to-2025). Additional emergency humanitarian support comes from the crisis reserve, which is also set out in the FCDO annual report and accounts.
Data on ODA spend for 2020 to 2024 is published in Statistics on International Development (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistics-on-international-development-final-uk-oda-spend-2024), including breakdowns by country and region.
Figures for 2025 and 2026 will be published in due course.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what conversations she has had with her international counterparts on (a) the impact of global aid cuts to humanitarian aid and (b) the impact those cuts will have on landmine disposal.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government's Global Mine Action Programme has been funding clearance and risk education for over a decade, including in Africa, protecting lives and livelihoods, and supporting our broader humanitarian and development goals. In addition, the Foreign Secretary recently announced a further £4 million in funding for the United Nations Mine Action Service to help clear the estimated 7,500 tonnes of unexploded munitions which have been preventing the safe passage of aid into Gaza. Future allocations to demining activity will be announced in the usual way in due course.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of implementing a global programme supporting civilian victims of landmines.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government's Global Mine Action Programme has been funding clearance and risk education for over a decade, including in Africa, protecting lives and livelihoods, and supporting our broader humanitarian and development goals. In addition, the Foreign Secretary recently announced a further £4 million in funding for the United Nations Mine Action Service to help clear the estimated 7,500 tonnes of unexploded munitions which have been preventing the safe passage of aid into Gaza. Future allocations to demining activity will be announced in the usual way in due course.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of reducing humanitarian aid funding in Africa on landmine disposal.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government's Global Mine Action Programme has been funding clearance and risk education for over a decade, including in Africa, protecting lives and livelihoods, and supporting our broader humanitarian and development goals. In addition, the Foreign Secretary recently announced a further £4 million in funding for the United Nations Mine Action Service to help clear the estimated 7,500 tonnes of unexploded munitions which have been preventing the safe passage of aid into Gaza. Future allocations to demining activity will be announced in the usual way in due course.
Asked by: Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government why they decided to revoke the draft Order in Council allowing for an interim administration of the British Virgin Islands; and whether they will publish the assessment that led to that decision.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
I refer the Noble Lord to the statement made to the House on 13 October 2025 (UIN HLWS953). This decision followed a review taking into account a range of factors including public consultations held by the Governor and British Virgin Islands (BVI) Government, a final report from the Governor, and a self‑assessment by the BVI Government, all of which are publicly available.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Southwark (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the arrest of an archbishop in Armenia on 4 December, what assessment they have made of religious freedom in that country, and what discussions they have had with the government of Armenia about that issue.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
I refer the Lord Bishop to the answer provided in the House of Commons on 17 November in response to Question 89462, which - for ease of reference - is reproduced below:
The UK is monitoring the situation between the Armenian Government and the Armenian Apostolic Church. We expect all actions to comply with Armenia's constitutional and legal framework, allowing due process to take its course and ensuring that all individuals are treated fairly under the law, with judicial proceedings remaining transparent and impartial. The UK Government remains firmly committed to promoting and protecting the right to freedom of religion or belief worldwide.
Ministers and officials have regularly discussed a range of issues with our Armenian counterparts.