Asked by: Lord Risby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made on the impact of Ukraine's constrained exports on food-insecure countries; and what contingency plans are currently in place to ensure food-insecure countries are not affected.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine triggered a sharp reduction in global grain supply and a huge shock to global markets. The most recent UN flagship report on global hunger - the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World2025 - has confirmed once again that the war in Ukraine is a major driver of food price volatility and inflation, contributing to rising food insecurity worldwide.
The UK has provided significant support to ensure vital Ukrainian exports continue to reach countries that need them, including coordination with the UN and alignment with EU Solidarity Lanes to maintain export capacity and resilience. Since 2022, the UK has provided £11 million of support for the Grain from Ukraine initiative, and we welcome Ukraine's ambitions in expanding the programme to 'Food from Ukraine'.
Asked by: Lord Risby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to promote and encourage private investment in Ukrainian agri-processing through UK Export Finance and British International Investment.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
At the 2023 Ukraine Recovery Conference, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office announced expansion of British International Investment's (BII) remit to support private sector investment in Ukraine. BII has worked with the European Bank of Reconstruction to establish the Ukraine Investment Platform to facilitate co-investment in Ukraine from G7 and European countries including in infrastructure, financial services and agriculture. BII's investment in Ukraine to date includes providing trade finance to local banks to support trade flows of critical goods and supporting a leading Ukrainian agribusiness producer to help it maintain and expand exports to over 70 countries, benefitting more than 2,000 small retail stores and 2,500 farmers. UK Export Finance (UKEF) has made £3.5 billion of financial capacity available to support Ukraine throughout the war, supporting national priority projects for the Government of Ukraine. UKEF's financing has directly enabled Ukraine to access world-class UK defence, infrastructure, and energy capabilities.
Asked by: Lord Risby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how the UK's international sanctions regime has impacted foreign direct investment in the UK over the past three years, and what analysis they have undertaken to assess this impact.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office undertakes a pre-designation assessment of the impact of a sanctions designation on the UK economy as part of the decision-making process. The government also publishes impact assessments alongside sanctions-related legislation.
While these assessments seek to be as comprehensive as possible, it is difficult to analyse the direct impact of sanctions on foreign direct investment (FDI), given the complex mix of factors that affect FDI, including geopolitical tensions, regulatory changes, and trade agreements.
Asked by: Lord Risby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what recent discussions they have had with international partners and UK institutions on recognising the Holodomor of 1932–33 as genocide; and what plans they have to commemorate the Holodomor Anniversary this November.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The Holodomor was a disaster of unimaginable scale. The UK's genocide determination policy is that any judgment as to whether genocide has occurred is a matter for a competent national or international court, rather than for governments or non-judicial bodies. The UK will commemorate the Holodomor Anniversary this November.
Asked by: Lord Risby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, in the light of the recent targeted attack on the British Council building in Kyiv, whether they will increase funding to the British Council’s operations in Ukraine.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The Government highly values the British Council and its work promoting the English language, UK arts and culture and education. The UK strongly condemns Russia's attacks on Ukrainian cities and the devastating impact this has on its civilian population. We also condemn the damage done to the British Council building in Kyiv, as well as EU delegation offices. We summoned the Russian Ambassador to make clear that such actions will only harden the UK's resolve to support Ukraine in defending itself from Russia's illegal invasion.
The British Council's Grant-in-Aid funding for the next three years (2026/27 and beyond) will be determined in the round, alongside the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office's other Official Development Assistance (ODA) and non-ODA allocations, later in the autumn.
Asked by: Lord Risby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, in the light of the One Hundred Year Partnership Agreement with Ukraine, what departmental support and funding is available to local authorities, cultural and educational institutions in the UK that are twinned with Ukrainian counterparts.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
The Government actively supports initiatives by local authorities, schools and universities to foster links with Ukrainian counterparts. This includes work by the British Council to deliver the UK-Ukraine school partnerships programme which connects close to 3,000 pupils and 100 teachers in both countries. The British Council also has a range of programmes to provide funding and resources for UK Arts and Cultural Organisations to collaborate with their Ukrainian counterparts. Over £5.4 million of Government funding has been allocated to support the UK-Ukraine University Twinning Initiative, fostering over 100 university partnerships and mobilising £70 million in sector-led support.
Asked by: Lord Risby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential for an outbreak of civil violence in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
The UK takes talk of secession, and other threats to undo the progress of the last twenty-six years in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) very seriously. We have called on those responsible to cease this destabilising and divisive rhetoric. As a UN Security Council and Peace Implementation Council Steering Board member, the UK is committed to upholding the Dayton Agreement in BiH. The UK, along with our allies, is offering visible and practical support to BiH's territorial integrity, and to maintain the EU military mission (EUFOR) and the Office of the High Representative in BiH. We will continue to help the people of BiH in building a better future in a stable and prosperous State with strong, functioning institutions. Ultimately, the authorities in BiH themselves must make necessary reforms for the good of all citizens, and we call on them to meet their obligations to those who elected them.
Asked by: Lord Risby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to record and certify vaccinations given to UK nationals abroad.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
There are no plans to record vaccinations given to UK nationals abroad.
Asked by: Lord Risby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what support they have provided to British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies during the COVID-19 pandemic; and whether this support will extend to the provision of vaccinations when trials are concluded.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
The UK Government has undertaken a major operation to support the Overseas Territories (OTs) in dealing with COVID-19. Support has been sent to all of the inhabited OTs with the exception of Pitcairn. UK support has enabled seven OTs to start testing for the virus and the others to continue testing when supply routes were cut. Supplies of PPE were sent to ensure no OT ran out. Medical equipment was sent to ensure hospitals could cope when each island was cut off from their usual medical evacuation routes by providing field hospital equipment, medicines, ventilators, CPAPS and other equipment. Expert support was provided in the form of advice from PHE, deployments of medical staff and a remote telemedicine service providing OT clinicians with remote access to clinical advice in the treatment of COVID-19 and other critical conditions. Military teams were deployed to the Cayman Islands and Turks and Caicos Islands to support with logistics and border security. Flights were arranged by the FCDO to repatriate British nationals to and from the OTs. Emergency budgetary support has been provided to Montserrat, St Helena and Anguilla to keep essential public services running and ensure these OTs can respond to the impacts of the pandemic.
The UK Government has worked closely with the governments of the Crown Dependencies throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. While the Crown Dependencies are responsible for their own emergency planning, response and recovery, the UK has engaged at working and political level with these jurisdictions to support their own efforts to combat COVID-19 and mitigate against its spread on the islands. This has included ensuring that the Crown Dependencies can access UK supply chains for key medicines and medical devices, including PPE and ventilators. The UK will maintain this engagement over the coming months to ensure that the UK can continue to offer support to Crown Dependency governments.
Through the Vaccine Task Force, the UK Government is procuring vaccines on behalf of the Crown Dependencies and OTs, and is working with them to ensure the smooth deployment of a COVID-19 vaccine once a safe and effective one is available.
Asked by: Lord Risby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what aid they have provided to Lebanon following the explosion in Beirut on 4 August.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
In response to the Beirut Port explosion on 4 August 2020, the UK announced a £25 million package of humanitarian assistance to help support Lebanon in its time of urgent need. This makes us one of the biggest international donors to the crisis.
Of this assistance, £20 million is allocated to the UN World Food Programme in Lebanon and will go directly to help vulnerable families by covering their essential survival needs, and will provide support for cash, vouchers, or in-kind support. £3 million will go to the British Red Cross for emergency support to respond to the explosion.
We rapidly deployed UK experts to Beirut to advise and assist with the response and undertake longer term planning. This has included: