Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much their Department has spent on (a) advertising and (b) marketing in each of the last three years.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The requested information is not centrally collated by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. All spending is subject to standard value for money assessments.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the cost to the public purse was of feasibility studies conducted by their Department for projects that did not proceed in the last five years.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Data on feasibility studies specifically for projects that did not proceed is not tracked individually. Isolating this would require manual review of large volumes of data, making it impractical to extract reliably without disproportionate effort and cost.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether there was a cost to the public purse for external legal advice relating to the departure of Lord Mandelson as (a) Ambassador and (b) from the Civil Service.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government has established processes to seek external legal advice in line with normal practice. The Government does not routinely comment on specific legal advice that it may or may not have received.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the full cost of capitalising the Chagossian Trust Fund in the UK-Mauritius Treaty will be met from (a) her Department's budget; and (b) be categorised as ODA expenditure.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The costs of the Treaty will be split between the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and are non-ODA funded.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 16 December 2025 to Question 98122, on Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Public Appointments, if she will list the annual remuneration of each of the current Direct Ministerial Appointments in post.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The names of special representatives, envoys and direct ministerial appointments are published on gov.uk at the time of their appointment.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many civil servants employed by their Department work in roles primarily focused on (a) transgender policy, (b) diversity, (c) equity and (d) inclusion; and at what annual salary cost.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 13 November in response to Question 88798.
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that Jimmy Lai obtains legal access to British consular support.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the Foreign Secretary's statement to the House on 15 December 2025, and her responses to the questions raised in that debate.
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to help secure the release of Jimmy Lai.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the Foreign Secretary's statement to the House on 15 December 2025, and her responses to the questions raised in that debate.
Asked by: Tom Hayes (Labour - Bournemouth East)
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 Chinese counterpart on Jimmy Lai’s treatment in prison.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the Foreign Secretary's statement to the House on 15 December 2025, and her responses to the questions raised in that debate.
Asked by: Lord Callanan (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether, in light of the President of the United States’ opposition to the UK-Mauritius Agreement concerning the Chagos Archipelago including Diego Garcia, they will share the Attorney General's legal advice on the status of the Chagos Archipelago with the United States.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
I refer the Noble Lord to the answer provided on 2 December 2025 in response to Question HL12208.