Diplomatic Missions and International Organisations: Debts 2023-24 Debate
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Catherine West
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Diplomatic Missions and International Organisations: Debts 2023-24
Catherine West Excerpts(1 month ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (Catherine West)
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office officials have regular contact with diplomatic missions and international organisations in the UK about outstanding national non-domestic rates payments, outstanding parking fine debt and unpaid London congestion charge debt, to press for payment of outstanding debt and fines. The protocol directorate wrote in February 2024 to all diplomatic missions and international organisations about their obligations to pay the charges, fines and taxes for which they are liable, and has since written again to those missions with outstanding debt to give them the opportunity to either pay outstanding debts, or to appeal against specific fines and charges that they consider incorrectly recorded. Diplomatic mission or international organisation Value of outstanding beneficial portion of NNDR payments due China £646,183.22 Iran £242,754.13 Sudan £241,400.83 Libya £209,263.27 Zimbabwe £172,770.72 Zambia £168,873.60 Russia £168,615.50 Nigeria £118,223.07 Bulgaria £115,654.07 India £99,385.88 Bangladesh £97,640.51 Sri Lanka £93,522.48 Morocco £88,399.84 Ethiopia £87,934.22 Sierra Leone £79,090.60 Qatar £77,327.54 Uganda £74,753.26 Algeria £58,487.81 Iraq £57,682.73 Tunisia £54,937.61 Eswatini £50,325.28 South Africa £50,298.09 Equatorial Guinea £50,058.32 Gambia £45,155.81 Yemen £43,258.32 Côte d'Ivoire £35,771.34 Cameroon £33,062.87 Hungary £32,600.51 Pakistan £32,053.47 Venezuela £30,504.96 Liberia £24,739.40 Fiji £23,463.65 Ghana £23,008.64 Saudi Arabia £22,929.93 Democratic Republic of the Congo £22,374.42 Argentina £21,746.47 Togo £21,735.05 Luxembourg £20,520.96 Tanzania £18,285.77 Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation £18,155.52 Malawi £17,761.64 Haiti £17,731.72 Oman £17,406.76 Jamaica £14,131.20 Paraguay £13,484.65 Albania £13,263.32 Iceland £13,178.88 Republic of Guinea £13,133.54 Germany £12,466.26 Egypt £11,771.64 Afghanistan £11,414.22 Slovenia £11,301.21 Eritrea £11,283.53 North Korea £11,080.28 Saint Lucia £10,951.20 Grenada £10,892.50 Lesotho £10,748.40 Seychelles £10,676.87 Diplomatic mission or international organisation Value of outstanding PCNs Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia £196,630.00 Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan £138,850.00 High Commission for the Federal Republic of Nigeria £78,300.00 Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco £71,060.00 Embassy of the Republic of Iraq £70,380.00 Uganda High Commission £55,680.00 Embassy of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire £40,200.00 Embassy of the Republic of South Sudan £33,435.00 Embassy of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia £33,260.00 High Commission for the Republic of Zambia £29,525.00 Embassy of Romania £28,620.00 Embassy of the Sultanate of Oman £28,160.00 Embassy of the United Arab Emirates £27,215.00 Embassy of the Republic of the Sudan £25,025.00 High Commission for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan £24,375.00 High Commission of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka £23,280.00 Embassy of Panama £21,920.00 High Commission of the Republic of Ghana £21,525.00 Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran £19,869.00 Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany £19,730.00 Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan £17,975.00 Embassy of the State of Qatar £17,855.00 Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan £17,795.00 High Commission of the United Republic of Tanzania £15,435.00 Embassy of Georgia £15,135.00 Embassy of the People's Republic of China £14,923.00 Malaysian High Commission £14,309.00 High Commission for the Republic of India £13,964.00 Embassy of Hungary £11,040.00 High Commission for the Republic of Cameroon £10,925.00 Embassy of the Republic of Liberia £10,875.00 Embassy of Libya £10,095.00 Diplomatic mission or international organisation Amount owed US Embassy £15,160,275 Embassy of Japan £10,422,558 Embassy of the People's Republic of China £9,303,180 High Commission of the Republic of India £9,141,875 High Commission for the Federal Republic of Nigeria £8,812,745 Embassy of the Russian Federation £6,061,815 Embassy of the Republic of Poland £5,630,650 High Commission of the Republic of Ghana £5,311,245 Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan £5,038,765 Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany £4,714,830 Embassy of the Republic of the Sudan £4,077,860 Kenya High Commission £3,459,030 High Commission for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan £3,423,720 Embassy of the Republic of Korea £2,810,740 Embassy of the Republic of Cuba £2,756,400 Embassy of France £2,617,800 Embassy of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria £2,428,290 High Commission of the United Republic of Tanzania £2,394,920 Embassy of Spain £2,277,960 High Commission of the Republic of South Africa £2,065,460 Sierra Leone High Commission £2,033,835 Embassy of Romania £1,925,050 Embassy of the Republic of Türkiye £1,837,390 Embassy of Greece £1,739,312 Embassy of Ukraine £1,729,090 High Commission of the Republic of Cyprus £1,536,330 Embassy of Hungary £1,444,620 High Commission for the Republic of Zambia £1,194,200 Embassy of the Republic of Yemen £1,103,700 Botswana High Commission £1,066,890 Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria £967,700 Uganda High Commission £920,720 High Commission for the Republic of Mozambique £898,290 High Commission of the Republic of Malawi £891,755 Embassy of the Republic of Zimbabwe £865,895 Embassy of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia £858,370 Embassy of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire £840,810 Kingdom of Eswatini High Commission £815,770 High Commission of the Republic of Namibia £796,480 High Commission of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka £787,920 High Commission for the Republic of Cameroon £775,680 Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco £764,290 Malta High Commission £755,405 Embassy of the Republic of Belarus £737,785 Embassy of Belgium £715,830 Mauritius High Commission £710,855 Embassy of Slovakia £704,700 Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania £680,295 Embassy of Austria £655,540 Embassy of the Republic of Liberia £642,630 Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan £624,830 High Commission of the Kingdom of Lesotho £569,020 Embassy of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea £566,690 Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam £546,540 Embassy of the Republic of Iraq £527,310 Embassy of the Republic of Guinea £524,740 Jamaican High Commission £500,920 Embassy of Tunisia £493,840 Embassy of the Czech Republic £489,730 Embassy of the Republic of South Sudan £460,920 Embassy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo £444,420 Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia £438,723 Royal Danish Embassy £419,675 Embassy of the Republic of Latvia £369,770 High Commission for Antigua and Barbuda £356,595 Embassy of Portugal £350,620 Embassy of Luxembourg £343,055 Embassy of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan £296,870 Belize High Commission £282,030 Embassy of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea £276,320 High Commission of the Republic of Maldives £252,260 Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt £243,820 Embassy of Estonia £236,060 Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia £222,080 Embassy of the Republic of the Philippines £208,390 High Commission for Guyana £203,680 Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania £200,780 Embassy of the State of Eritrea £194,980 The High Commission of the Republic of Seychelles £169,935 Embassy of the Dominican Republic £169,180 Embassy of the Kyrgyz Republic £147,957 High Commission for Saint Lucia £141,680 Embassy of El Salvador £132,865 Embassy of the Republic of Senegal £132,555 Embassy of the Republic of Albania £127,630 Embassy of the Republic of Moldova £124,570 The Gambia High Commission £116,980 Embassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina £101,380
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.
As at 17 October 2024, the total amount of outstanding NNDR payments arising from invoices issued to 31 December 2023 is £4,142,255. Representations in 2024 by the protocol directorate of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to missions and organisations has led to the settlement of over £869,000 of outstanding debts owed by a number of missions and organisations. We continue to urge all those with NNDR debt to pay their dues.
Diplomatic premises of the following countries and international organisations have balances in excess of £10,000 in respect of NNDR for invoices issued up to 31 December 2023:
Parking fines
Parking fines incurred by diplomatic missions and international organisations are brought to our attention by local authorities, primarily but not exclusively in London. The FCDO considers those with privileges and immunities liable for fines issued as penalty charge notices by local authorities for vehicle parking infringements. We expect PCNs to be paid to the issuing office.
The FCDO regularly reminds missions and international organisations to pay outstanding PCNs. We wrote to all missions and international organisations in February to remind them of their obligations to pay fines for parking infringements and have written to those missions and organisations with outstanding debt, giving them the opportunity either to pay or to appeal against them if they consider that the fines had been recorded incorrectly.
As at 30 June 2024, the total value of outstanding PCNs notified to FCDO by local authorities is £1,489,618. The table below details those diplomatic missions and international organisations which have outstanding PCN fines totalling £10,000 or more:
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 30 September 2024 as advised by Transport for London was £152,436,135. TfL publishes details of diplomatic missions and international organisations with outstanding fines at https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/publications-and-reports/congestion-charge
We consider that there are no legal grounds to exempt diplomatic missions and international organisations from the London congestion charge, which is comparable to a parking fee or toll charge they are required to pay. FCDO officials write to diplomatic missions and international organisations with large congestion charge debts annually, to encourage payment.
The table below shows those diplomatic missions and international organisations with outstanding fines of £100,000 or more. FCDO officials write to diplomatic missions and international organisations with large congestion charge debts annually, to encourage payment. TfL will also be approaching all diplomatic missions and international organisations with outstanding congestion charge debt.
Figures for previous years are available in the written statement to the House made by the then Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Americas and Caribbean on 14 September 2023 (HCWS1030), which can be found at https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2023-09-14/hcws1030.
[HCWS218]