Diplomatic Missions and International Organisations: Debts Owed in the UK 2018
(Limited Text - Ministerial Extracts only)
Read Full debate
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and First Secretary of State (Dominic Raab)
Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials have held meetings with a number of diplomatic missions and international organisations about outstanding parking fine debt, outstanding national non-domestic rates payments and unpaid congestion charge debt, to press for payment of outstanding fines and debts. In 2019 protocol directorate wrote to diplomatic missions and international organisations with debts giving them the opportunity to either pay outstanding debts, or appeal against specific fines if they considered that they had been recorded incorrectly. Diplomatic Mission/International Organisation 2018 Amount of Outstanding Fines (excluding London Congestion Charge) High Commission for the Federal Republic of Nigeria £47,165 Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan £19,765 High Commission for the Republic of Zambia £17,000 Embassy of the United Arab Emirates £11,565 Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia £9,785 Embassy of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire £6,405 Embassy of the Sultanate of Oman £6,115 Embassy of Libya £5,715 Malaysian High Commission £4,900 Embassy of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan £4,050 High Commission for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan £4,000 Office of the High Commissioner for Ghana £3,770 Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania £3,731 Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan £3,215 Embassy of the Republic of Iraq £3,110 High Commission for Sierra Leone £3,080 Embassy of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia £2,750 Embassy of the People’s Republic of China £2,655 Embassy of the State of Kuwait £2,600 People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria £2,420 Embassy of the State of Qatar £2,280 Embassy of the Republic of Angola £2,210 Embassy of the Republic of the Sudan £2,150 Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany £2,005 Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt £1,890 High Commission for the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka £1,885 High Commission for the Republic of Cameroon £1,780 Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia £1,630 Embassy of the Republic of Liberia £1,445 Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan £1,430 Office of the High Commissioner for India £1,365 Uzbekistan £1,315 High Commission of Canada £1,260 Embassy of the Russian Federation £1,235 Embassy of France £1,200 Embassy of the Republic of Poland £1,190 Embassy of the Republic of South Sudan £1,145 Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran £1,105 Embassy of the Kingdom of Bahrain £1,085 High Commission for the Republic of South Africa £1,085 Embassy of the Republic of Yemen £1,080 Embassy of Brazil £1,040 Royal Thai Embassy £1,040 High Commission for Kenya £1,020 Embassy of the United States of America £1,015 High Commission of the United Republic of Tanzania £1,005 Embassy of the Republic of the Sudan £164,178 Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran £143,217 Embassy of the Republic of Zimbabwe £124,175 Embassy of Libya £94,519 Embassy of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria £92,830 Embassy of the Republic of Iraq £88,568 High Commission for the Republic of Zambia £74,794 High Commission for Sierra Leone £70,088 High Commission for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan £64,492 Malaysian High Commission £59,578 Uganda High Commission £52,254 Embassy of the Russian Federation £47,642 Embassy of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia £41,658 High Commission for the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka £37,001 High Commission for the Federal Republic of Nigeria £36,975 Embassy of the Republic of Liberia £36,149 Embassy of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire £32,525 Kingdom of Eswatini High Commission £29,860 Embassy of the Republic of Korea £26,896 Embassy of the State of Qatar £25,028 Embassy of the United States of America £23,694 Embassy of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar £18,808 Embassy of Tunisia £15,791 Embassy of Romania £13,891 Embassy of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea £13,300 Embassy of the Republic of Angola £12,293 Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania £12,143 Embassy of the Republic of Yemen £11,964 The Gambia High Commission £11,716 Embassy of the Republic of Haiti £10,413 Country Number of Fines Total Outstanding Embassy of the United States of America 102,255 £12,446,845 Embassy of Japan 69,690 £8,510,650 High Commission for the Federal Republic of Nigeria 58,102 £7,063,965 Office of the High Commissioner for India 47,654 £6,009,905 Embassy of the Russian Federation 48,535 £5,721,865 Embassy of the People's Republic of China 38,528 £5,051,880 Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany 37,275 £4,373,170 Embassy of the Republic of Poland 35,020 £4,345,760 Office of the High Commissioner for Ghana 31,895 £3,959,775 Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan 26,717 £3,358,585 The Embassy of the Republic of the Sudan 28,155 £3,353,420 High Commission for Kenya 22,813 £2,750,760 High Commission for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan 18,197 £2,305,230 Embassy of France 18,783 £2,273,440 High Commission for the United Republic of Tanzania 17,038 £2,025,070 Embassy of the Republic of Korea 16,194 £2,020,120 Embassy of Spain 16,425 £1,979,560 Embassy of the Republic of Cuba 14,385 £1,806,960 Embassy of Algeria 14,206 £1,727,030 High Commission for the Republic of South Africa 13,931 £1,651,440 Embassy of Romania 13,579 £1,627,200 High Commission for Sierra Leone 13,148 £1,575,455 Embassy of Ukraine 12,310 £1,464,070 Embassy of Greece 12,261 £1,456,930 High Commission for the Republic of Cyprus 9,396 £1,152,870 Embassy of Hungary 9,508 £1,150,360 High Commission for the Republic of Zambia 8,333 £1,011,010 Embassy of the Republic of Yemen 7,879 £949,660 Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria 7,139 £840,390 High Commission for Botswana 6,186 £768,040 Embassy of the Republic of Turkey 5,797 £768,040 High Commission for the Republic of Malawi 5,958 £722,145 High Commission for the Republic of Cameroon 6,117 £721,420 High Commission of the Republic of Mozambique 5,812 £706,960 Embassy of the Republic of Belarus 5,931 £700,965 Embassy of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia 5,631 £668,150 Embassy of the Slovak Republic 5,566 £653,980 High Commission for the Republic of Namibia 5,472 £646,070 High Commission for the Republic of Zimbabwe 5,561 £643,945 Kingdom of Eswatini High Commission 5,377 £636,350 Embassy of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire 5,219 £635,660 High Commission for Malta 4,857 £596,975 Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania 4,694 £590,985 High Commission for Mauritius 4,655 £559,575 Embassy of Austria 4,584 £556,740 Embassy of the Republic of Liberia 4,332 £542,030 Embassy of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea 4,550 £537,690 Uganda High Commission 4,243 £519,580 High Commission for the Kingdom of Lesotho 4,157 £491,960 Embassy of Belgium 3,812 £463,220 Embassy of the Islamic State of Afghanistan 3,512 £427,840 Embassy of the Czech Republic 3,648 £426,270 Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam 3,556 £425,800 Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco 3,228 £423,790 High Commission for the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka 3,043 £397,480 High Commission for Jamaica 3,173 £385,020 Royal Danish Embassy 3,076 £370,555 Embassy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo 2,932 £369,440 Embassy of the Republic of South Sudan 2,759 £357,990 Embassy of Tunisia 2,798 £357,840 Embassy of the Republic of Iraq 2,467 £323,920 Embassy of Portugal 2,357 £292,280 Embassy of the Republic of Latvia 2,332 £285,870 High Commission for Antigua & Barbuda 2,277 £281,795 Embassy of Finland 2,273 £278,010 Embassy of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea 2,297 £267,640 Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia 2,072 £260,930 Embassy of Luxembourg 2,031 £245,155 Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt 2,299 £243,220 High Commission for Belize 1,906 £243,090 Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia 1,845 £204,980 Embassy of the Republic of Guinea 1,731 £192,030 Embassy of Estonia 1,461 £181,140 Embassy of the State of Eritrea 315 £158,950 High Commission for Guyana 1,262 £154,010 Embassy of the Dominican Republic 1,245 £150,090 High Commission of the Republic of Seychelles 1,127 £145,455 Embassy of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan 1,052 £139,750 High Commission of the Republic of Maldives 1,086 £136,130 Embassy of El Salvador 996 £126,445 Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania 1,060 £115,170 Embassy of the Republic of Albania 839 £108,800 Embassy of the Republic of Moldova 876 £106,630
Parking fines: Parking fines incurred by diplomatic missions and international organisations in London are brought to our attention by local councils, Transport for London and the City of London.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has held meetings with missions which have substantial outstanding parking fine debts. In addition, in May 2019 we wrote to the debtors concerned giving them the opportunity either to pay their outstanding fines or appeal against them if they considered that the fines had been recorded incorrectly.
The table below details those diplomatic missions and international organisations which have outstanding fines from 2018 totalling £1,000 or more, as of 2 September 2019.
National non-domestic rates: The majority of diplomatic missions in the United Kingdom pay the national non-domestic rates due from them. Diplomatic missions and international organisations 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.
Representations by protocol directorate of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to missions in 2018 led to the settlement of outstanding debts by a number of missions. £73,589 of the outstanding debt is owed by the embassy of the Syrian Arab Republic, which is not currently represented in the UK and we have therefore been unable to pursue this debt. We continue to urge all those with NNDR debt to pay their dues.
The missions listed below owed over £10,000 in respect of NNDR:
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 2018 as advised by Transport for London was £116,868,825. The table below shows those diplomatic missions and international organisations with outstanding fines of £100,000 or more. FCO officials write to diplomatic missions and international organisations with large congestion charge debts annually, to encourage payment.
Figures for previous years are available in the Secretary for State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs’ written statement to the House on 18 December 2018 (HCWS1204) which can be found at: https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2018-12-18/HCWS1204/
[HCWS120]