Diplomatic Missions and International Organisations: Debts
(7 years ago)
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The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Boris Johnson)
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has held meetings with a number of missions about outstanding parking fine debt, outstanding national non-domestic rates payments and unpaid congestion charge debt. The director of protocol raises the issue in his introductory meetings with all new ambassadors and high commissioners whose missions are in debt to the relevant authorities. FCO officials also press diplomatic missions and international organisations to pay outstanding fines and debts. In April this year, protocol directorate wrote to diplomatic missions and international organisations concerned giving them the opportunity to either pay their outstanding debts, or appeal against specific fines if they considered that they had been issued incorrectly. Diplomatic Mission/International Organisation 2016 Amount of Outstanding Fines (excluding congestion charge) £ Embassy of the Republic of South Sudan £83,215 High Commission for the Federal Republic of Nigeria £30,024 Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia £19,202 Embassy of the Republic of the Sudan £17,985 High Commission for the Republic of Zambia £11,220 Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekistan £10,610 High Commission for Malaysia £7,740 Embassy of the Republic of Cote d’lvoire £7,040 Embassy of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia £6,440 Embassy of the Sultanate of Oman £4,650 Embassy of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea £4,565 High Commission for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan £4,050 Embassy of France £4,035 Embassy of the United Arab Emirates £3,850 Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan £3,770 Embassy of the Republic of Liberia £3,375 Embassy of the State of Qatar £2,985 Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam £2,665 Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan £2,580 Embassy of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan £2,520 High Commission for the United Republic of Tanzania £2,055 Embassy of Libya £1,935 Embassy of the Republic of Angola £1,895 High Commission for Sierra Leone £1,820 Embassy of the Republic of Yemen £1,815 High Commission for the Republic of Ghana £1,780 Embassy of the Republic of Iraq £1,575 People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria £1,435 Embassy of the People’s Republic of China £1,365 Embassy of the Republic of Kosovo £1,235 Embassy of the State of Kuwait £1,225 High Commission for the Republic of South Africa £1,195 Embassy of Georgia £1,065 Embassy of the Republic of the Sudan £109,599 High Commission for the People’s Republic of Bangladesh £107,427 Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran £104,688 Embassy of the Republic of Zimbabwe £79,852 High Commission for the Republic of Zambia £39,081 Uganda High Commission £36,885 Embassy of the Republic of Angola £32,273 Embassy of the Republic of Liberia £29,559 Embassy of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia £28,652 Embassy of Libya £26,186 Embassy of the State of Qatar £25,890 High Commission for the Republic of Cameroon £25,126 Embassy of the Republic of Albania £24,165 High Commission for the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka £23,846 Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt £23,120 Embassy of Ukraine £15,675 High Commission for Sierra Leone £14,641 Embassy of the United Arab Emirates £13,866 Embassy of the Republic of Cote d’lvoire £13,098 Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania £12,359 Country Number of Fines TotalOutstanding Embassy of the United States of America 96,274 £ 11,544,455 Embassy of Japan 63,869 £7,629,370 High Commission for the Federal Republic of Nigeria 54,237 £6,481,620 Embassy of the Russian Federation 47,760 £ 5,603,320 Office of the High Commissioner for India 40,929 £4,991,125 Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany 36,258 £4,221,590 Embassy of the Republic of Poland 31,780 £3,854,130 Embassy of the People’s Republic of China 30,317 £ 3,805,465 Office of the High Commissioner for Ghana 28,630 £ 3,465,960 Embassy of the Republic of Sudan 26,161 £ 3,048,475 Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan 24,032 £ 2,947,595 High Commission for Kenya 20,844 £ 2,453,305 Embassy of France 17,570 £2,090,815 High Commission for the United Republic of Tanzania 16,183 £ 1,893,325 Commission for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan 15,979 £1,971,105 Embassy of Spain 15,855 £ 1,893,420 Embassy of the Republic of Korea 14,777 £ 1,805,150 Embassy of Romania 13,069 £ 1,547,415 High Commission for the Republic of South Africa 12,963 £ 1,503,195 Embassy of the Republic of Cuba 12,744 £ 1,557,555 Embassy of Algeria 12,694 £ 1,495,660 High Commission for Sierra Leone 12,038 £ 1,404,675 Embassy of Greece 12,028 £ 1,419,575 Embassy of Ukraine 11,759 £ 1,380,430 Embassy of Hungary 9,157 £ 1,097,580 High Commission for the Republic of Cyprus 8,588 £ 1,030,060 High Commission for the Republic of Zambia 7,481 £ 882,040 Embassy of the Republic of Yemen 7,475 £ 889,990 Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria 6,853 £ 797,035 High Commission for the Republic of Cameroon 5,923 £692,170 Embassy of the Republic of Belarus 5,796 £ 680,595 High Commission for the Republic of Malawi 5,576 £ 663,380 High Commission for Botswana 5,515 £ 667,605 Embassy of the Slovak Republic 5,493 £641,215 Embassy of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia 5,243 £ 608,795 High Commission for the Republic of Namibia 5,186 £602,145 High Commission for the Republic of Mozambique 5,182 £611,340 Embassy of the Republic of Zimbabwe 5,120 £575,910 High Commission for Kingdom of Swaziland 5,008 £581,510 Embassy of the Republic of Cote d’lvoire 4,673 £ 553,865 High Commission for Malta 4,533 £ 546,420 Embassy of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea 4,428 £519,215 Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania 4,353 £521,270 Embassy of the Republic of Turkey 4,344 £ 530,465 Embassy of Austria 4,290 £513,005 High Commission for Mauritius 4,223 £494,495 High Commission for the Kingdom of Lesotho 3,993 £ 467,055 High Commission for Uganda 3,872 £ 464,420 Embassy of the Republic of Liberia 3,772 £ 457,905 Embassy of Belgium 3,597 £ 430,060 Embassy of the Czech Republic 3,529 £ 407,600 Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam 3,350 £ 395,400 Embassy of the Republic of Guinea 3,314 £ 385,265 Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan 3,213 £ 386,600 Embassy of Denmark 2,981 £356,010 High Commission for Jamaica 2,909 £ 345,545 Embassy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo 2,727 £ 338,580 Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco 2,713 £ 344,840 Embassy of the Republic of South Sudan 2,612 £ 333,520 High Commission for the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka 2,505 £315,670 Embassy of Tunisia 2,353 £ 288,890 Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt 2,290 £241,725 Embassy of Portugal 2,263 £ 278,035 Embassy of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea 2,221 £ 255,675 Embassy of the Republic of Latvia 2,196 £265,155 Embassy of Finland 2,160 £ 258,490 Embassy of Luxembourg 2,018 £ 243,470 Embassy of the Republic of Iraq 1,971 £ 248,535 High Commission for Antigua & Barbuda 1,966 £ 232,570 Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia 1,958 £ 239,025 Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 1,808 £ 197,875 High Commission for Belize 1,670 £ 206,635 Embassy of Estonia 1,437 £ 177,645 Embassy of the Dominican Republic 1,221 £ 146,260 Embassy of the State of Eritrea 1,209 £ 142,925 High Commission for Guyana 1,102 £ 129,105 The Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the International Maritime Organisation 1,021 £ 126,795 Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania 982 £ 103,590 High Commission for the Republic of the Maldives 961 £116,325 High Commission for Seychelles 908 £ 111,365
Parking fines: in 2016, 4,311 parking fines incurred by diplomatic missions and international organisations in London were brought to our attention by local councils, Transport for London and the City of London. These totalled at least(a) £430,126.
Subsequent payments (including amounts waived by the above authorities) totalled £102,164. There remains a total of £327,962 in unpaid fines for 2016.
The table below details those diplomatic missions and international organisations that have outstanding fines from 2016 totalling £1,000 or more, as of 28 June 2017.
(a)The figure of £430,126 excludes the value of parking fines issued by Barnet Council in 2016, because Barnet Council failed to provide the FCO on request with the value of the fines it had issued.
National non-domestic rates (NNDR): the majority of diplomatic missions in the United Kingdom pay the NNDR due from them. Diplomatic missions are obliged to pay only 6% of the total NNDR value of their offices. This represents payment for specific services received such as street cleaning and street lighting.
As at 8 June 2017, the total amount of outstanding NNDR payments, due before 31 December 2016, owed by foreign diplomatic missions as advised by the valuation office agency is £1,049,999, an increase of 16% over the 2015 figure, as reported in the 2016 WMS (£907,976). However, £51,573 of this outstanding debt is owed by Syria—which is not currently represented in the UK and we have therefore been unable to pursue this debt. Four missions are responsible for just over a third of the remainder. We shall continue to urge those with NNDR debt to pay their dues.
The table below details those diplomatic missions that, as of 8 June 2017, owed over £10,000 in respect of NNDR due before 31 December 2016.
London congestion charge: the value of unpaid congestion charge debt incurred by diplomatic missions and international organisations in London since its introduction in February 2003 until 31 December 2016 as advised by Transport for London (TfL) was £105,419,835. The table below shows those diplomatic missions and international organisations with outstanding fines of £100,000 or more.
Figures for previous years are available in the Secretary for State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs’ written statement to the House on 21 July 2016, Official Report, column 47WS (HCWS100).
[HCWS154]