Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what mechanisms her Department plans to establish to co-ordinate Illicit Finance Summit outcomes with domestic enforcement agencies.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign Secretary has announced plans to host a major Illicit Finance Summit on 23-24 June next year, which will bring together governments, civil society organisations, and private sector representatives to build an international coalition to tackle flows of dirty money around the world and strengthen the UK's national security. All further details such as the frameworks for monitoring commitments made at this summit, and coordination with domestic agencies on implementing the outcomes, will be set out in the usual way in due course.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department intends to publish a framework for monitoring international commitments made at the Illicit Finance Summit.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign Secretary has announced plans to host a major Illicit Finance Summit on 23-24 June next year, which will bring together governments, civil society organisations, and private sector representatives to build an international coalition to tackle flows of dirty money around the world and strengthen the UK's national security. All further details such as the frameworks for monitoring commitments made at this summit, and coordination with domestic agencies on implementing the outcomes, will be set out in the usual way in due course.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what criteria her Department plans to use to evaluate bids for funding under forthcoming peacebuilding programmes for Israel and Palestine.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has announced plans to host a key peacebuilding conference on 12 March next year, which will bring together international experts and civil society organisations from the Middle East, to map existing peace-building work and support the establishment of an International Peace Fund for Israel and Palestine. All further details such as the staffing of this work, international partners attending the conference, and the evaluation of funding bids, will be set out in the usual way in due course.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what mechanisms her Department intends to use to co-ordinate planned UK peacebuilding activity with that of international partners.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has announced plans to host a key peacebuilding conference on 12 March next year, which will bring together international experts and civil society organisations from the Middle East, to map existing peace-building work and support the establishment of an International Peace Fund for Israel and Palestine. All further details such as the staffing of this work, international partners attending the conference, and the evaluation of funding bids, will be set out in the usual way in due course.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the staffing resource required to administer new peacebuilding schemes.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has announced plans to host a key peacebuilding conference on 12 March next year, which will bring together international experts and civil society organisations from the Middle East, to map existing peace-building work and support the establishment of an International Peace Fund for Israel and Palestine. All further details such as the staffing of this work, international partners attending the conference, and the evaluation of funding bids, will be set out in the usual way in due course.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the staffing requirements needed to support expanded UK engagement in Indo-Pacific economic initiatives.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Building strong relationships in the Indo-Pacific is crucial to the UK's long-term economic growth. The global economic centre of gravity is already shifting - by 2050 the Indo-Pacific region will generate over half of global growth.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office continues to work closely with the Department for Business and Trade, and other colleagues, to ensure that our work in the Indo-Pacific supports the delivery of the UK's Industrial and Trade Strategies, including securing the UK-India Free Trade Agreement and finalising UK accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. UK Diplomatic Posts in the Indo-Pacific incorporate relevant regional strategic priorities into their country plans, and all Posts provide twice-yearly updates against the objectives set out in those plans.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what mechanisms she uses to evaluate the performance of UK posts in delivering Indo-Pacific strategic priorities.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Building strong relationships in the Indo-Pacific is crucial to the UK's long-term economic growth. The global economic centre of gravity is already shifting - by 2050 the Indo-Pacific region will generate over half of global growth.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office continues to work closely with the Department for Business and Trade, and other colleagues, to ensure that our work in the Indo-Pacific supports the delivery of the UK's Industrial and Trade Strategies, including securing the UK-India Free Trade Agreement and finalising UK accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. UK Diplomatic Posts in the Indo-Pacific incorporate relevant regional strategic priorities into their country plans, and all Posts provide twice-yearly updates against the objectives set out in those plans.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that UK Indo-Pacific policy is aligned with domestic trade and investment objectives.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Building strong relationships in the Indo-Pacific is crucial to the UK's long-term economic growth. The global economic centre of gravity is already shifting - by 2050 the Indo-Pacific region will generate over half of global growth.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office continues to work closely with the Department for Business and Trade, and other colleagues, to ensure that our work in the Indo-Pacific supports the delivery of the UK's Industrial and Trade Strategies, including securing the UK-India Free Trade Agreement and finalising UK accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. UK Diplomatic Posts in the Indo-Pacific incorporate relevant regional strategic priorities into their country plans, and all Posts provide twice-yearly updates against the objectives set out in those plans.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
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 the Department for Business and Trade on resourcing UK participation in Indo-Pacific market-access programmes.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Building strong relationships in the Indo-Pacific is crucial to the UK's long-term economic growth. The global economic centre of gravity is already shifting - by 2050 the Indo-Pacific region will generate over half of global growth.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office continues to work closely with the Department for Business and Trade, and other colleagues, to ensure that our work in the Indo-Pacific supports the delivery of the UK's Industrial and Trade Strategies, including securing the UK-India Free Trade Agreement and finalising UK accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. UK Diplomatic Posts in the Indo-Pacific incorporate relevant regional strategic priorities into their country plans, and all Posts provide twice-yearly updates against the objectives set out in those plans.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the Department has established metrics for tracking economic diversification outcomes in supported Overseas Territories.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Department assesses the financial sustainability of long-term UK-funded capacity-building projects through its business case process, annual reviews and Project Completion Reviews. During delivery, sustainability is monitored through quarterly progress reports and annual reviews, which include checks on financial performance, risk management and alignment with agreed objectives. Programme Responsible Owners (PROs) apply the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's Programme Operating Framework (PrOF) to ensure ongoing viability, using tools such as risk registers, results frameworks and value-for-money assessments throughout the project lifecycle.
UK support to aided Overseas Territories contributes to economic diversification and local capacity-building in line with our commitment to the prosperity of the whole UK family. Various metrics such as visitor numbers and overall GDP growth are used to track outcomes, as appropriate for each territory and in line with programme operating framework requirements.