Asked by: Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government why they hold no records of the Duke of York’s official overseas trips as Special Representative prior to 2008, given that he was appointed to the role in 2001; and what steps are being taken to locate these missing files.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office records are retained and managed in accordance with its record retention and disposal policy, ensuring compliance with legal and regulatory requirements. We take our responsibilities under the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act very seriously. Each request is evaluated individually, and when sensitive information falls within the scope of a request, the relevant exemptions are applied. If a requester is dissatisfied with a response under the FoI Act, they have the right to appeal, and the appeal procedures are outlined in the response. We regularly provide advice and assistance in line with the Information Commissioner's Office guidance on how requests can be better framed to help requesters to gain access to the information they are seeking.
Asked by: Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have conducted any review into the Duke of York’s activities as Special Representative in Kazakhstan; and whether they had any impact on UK diplomatic or trade interests in the region.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has not conducted a review into the activities of the Duke of York when Special Representative for Trade and Investment in Kazakhstan from 2001 to 2011.
The UK engages with Kazakhstan regularly, with The Minister of State, Stephen Doughty recently hosting the 8th UK-Kazakhstan Strategic Dialogue in London. Kazakhstan is the UK's largest trading partner in Central Asia; the total bilateral trade in goods and service was £2.8 billion in the four quarters to the end of Q3 2024.
Asked by: Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the decision of the Scottish First Minister to invite a foreign head of government to a meeting where no official of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is present.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Following a meeting between the Scottish First Minister and the Turkish President, which took place without an FCDO official being present, the Foreign Secretary wrote to Scottish Cabinet Secretary Robertson. He made it clear that the Scottish Government must respect the relevant protocols for the overseas visits of devolved Government Ministers, for continued FCDO facilitation. We remain open to discussing a constructive way forward, but the UK's foreign policy must be communicated consistently and coherently to our international partners.
Asked by: Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to investigate whether Scottish Government spending on overseas embassies is appropriate.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
International relations is a matter reserved to the UK Government (UKG), but the UKG recognises that the devolved governments have legitimate interest in international activities which affect delivery of devolved objectives. The Scottish Government currently operates eight overseas offices and has an office in London. Most overseas offices are physically co-located with the UK Mission. As the UKG highlighted in its evidence to the Scottish Affairs Select Committee, there are a wide range of positive examples of engagement and co-operation between FCDO and Scottish Government staff based at UK Missions, delivering for Scotland and the UK.
Asked by: Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the impact of UK development aid on local NGOs working in East Africa in 2021, and (2) whether the current model, which channels the majority of foreign aid to the United Nations, is compatible with their commitment to localising humanitarian aid.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) play a central role in delivering UK funded humanitarian support in East Africa. For example, in 2021 the Ethiopia Humanitarian Fund, supported by the UK, reached 3.2 million people with life-saving aid with more than 30 national and international NGOs involved in delivery. More broadly, the FCDO supports a number of Country based Pooled Funds (CBPF) and in 2022, 21.7% of funding allocated by CBPFs went directly to national NGOs. The UK also uses its voice on multilateral boards to ensure decisions align with UK priorities such as the International Development Strategy's commitment to locally-led decision-making.
Asked by: Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the opposition movement in Belarus; and what plans they have, if any, to meet with the opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya last visited the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office on 9 March 2022, where she met the Rt. Hon. James Cleverly, then Minister for Europe. Although there are currently no firm plans in place for a future visit, the UK remains in regular contact with Mrs Tsikanouskaya and other prominent Belarusian civil society figures.
The UK Government continues to urge the Belarusian authorities to end their repression of their own citizens, enter into an inclusive dialogue with the democratic opposition and civil society, and offer the Belarusian people the genuine choice of government that they both want and deserve.
Asked by: Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the governance of the British Virgin Islands.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK Government agreed earlier this year with the conclusions of the Commission of Inquiry that identified poor governance in the British Virgin Islands (BVI). The new BVI Government and Premier Wheatley also agreed change was needed and committed to a substantial reform plan. Legislative changes have been made, policy reviews begun and several criminal investigations and audits are under way, with the UK Government providing some funding and expertise. The Governor and UK Government will assess progress quarterly with the first assessment at the end of September.
Asked by: Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government where Ministerial responsibility lies in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office for inclusive societies; and which Minister is responsible for ensuring that the work of the Department takes account of the rights and needs of (1) older people, and (2) people with disabilities.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister for South Asia, UN and the Commonwealth, is the Minister responsible for policy on open societies and Minister Morton is responsible for gender and equalities, including the rights and needs of older people and people with disabilities.
Asked by: Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, as part of their overseas development assistance (ODA) disbursement, (1) what assessment they have made of the economic contributions of older women in lower- and middle-income countries, and (2) what steps they have taken to ensure that ODA supports these women to access decent work and live fulfilling lives.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
Older women remain economically active, often in difficult, informal roles and driven by necessity. The unpaid contributions women make over their lifetime to the economy as carers are unrecognised, and their informal work is often invisible. As a result, many older women lack access to savings, pensions or other social protection. FCDO is investing in improving collection and use of disaggregated data (by sex, age and disability) to enable us to empower and include those who are too often invisible or face additional barriers to escaping poverty. We have led the way on the Inclusive Data Charter Action Plan and encouraging multilaterals such as the World bank and UN to collect disaggregated and inclusive data.
FCDO aims to improve outcomes for women and girls, including older women, through the new £19 million Gender-Responsive Social Protection programme, which is building the evidence base on what works and offering technical assistance to strengthen government and partners social protection investments. We are also supporting governments to provide social protection for older women, including in Uganda, where over 210,000 women are currently benefitting from a senior citizen grant through a programme delivered and funded in partnership with the Governments of Ireland and Uganda.
Asked by: Lord Foulkes of Cumnock (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of the (1) annual revenue, and (2) annual capital expenditure, of the government of St Helena is provided by them.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
For Financial Year 2016/17 the Government has agreed to provide funding to St Helena Government which makes up 62% of their recurrent budget and 57% of their capital programme.