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Written Question
Development Aid: Government Departments
Tuesday 22nd November 2022

Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of Official Development Assistance was spent by other government Departments in each of the last five years.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The UK’s calendar year Official Development Assistance (ODA) spending is reported in its annual Statistics on International Development publications, including the amount of ODA spent by each government department. These publications can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-on-international-development#statistics-on-international-development:-2017.


Written Question
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Public Expenditure
Wednesday 6th April 2022

Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the real terms change in the budget of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office over the next three years.

Answered by Simon Clarke

As published at the Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021 (SR21), the average annual real terms growth for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is 4.4% from 2021-2022 to 2024-25.

It is standard practice for the Government to set budgets in cash terms. The FCDO, like other departments, is expected to manage risks of inflation within its budget.


Written Question
International Assistance: Ukraine
Wednesday 6th April 2022

Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the value of economic assistance to the Government of Ukraine in FY2022-23 will be in the form of (a) grants and (b) loans.

Answered by Simon Clarke

Our economic and humanitarian support announced for Ukraine totals over £750 million. This includes a £220 million package of aid, making the UK a leading bilateral humanitarian donor; a £100 million grant to support Ukraine’s energy and security reforms, primarily delivered through World Bank programmes; and a $100 million budgetary support grant, which contributed to a package agreed on 8 March of over $700 million for direct fiscal support to Ukraine via the World Bank, to help mitigate direct economic impacts. This total also includes UK guarantees on up to $500 million of lending by multilateral development banks operating in the region, and particularly the World Bank, which will enable them to significantly scale up their financial support offer to Ukraine.

Some of this humanitarian and economic support has already been disbursed to meet urgent needs (in FY21/22), with further support, including UK guarantees expected to be mobilised in FY22/23.

The UK continues to engage with international counterparts, including G7 partners and International Financial Institutions on support to Ukraine.


Written Question
Treasury: Cybersecurity
Monday 4th April 2022

Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much has been spent on cyber security for his Department in each of the last five years.

Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

A core component of our National Cyber Strategy is to strengthen the cyber security of government and public services. The Government Cyber Security Strategy, launched in January 2022, will make sure that core government functions are resilient to cyber attacks. This work will be supported by an enhanced assurance regime to raise standards and a new Government Cyber Coordination Centre. The delivery of both the National and Government strategies is supported by £2.6 billion of investment over three years. For reasons of national security we do not comment on how much is spent by each department on cyber security.


Written Question
Government Departments: Development Aid
Monday 4th April 2022

Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an estimate of the disbursement of Official Development Assistance in FY2022-23 by each Government department.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The 2021 Spending Review provides departments with an Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget of £11.4 billion in 2022-23.

HMT will publish individual departmental ODA allocations in due course.


Written Question
Freezing of Assets
Thursday 31st March 2022

Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the total value of assets that have fled the UK's jurisdiction while being investigated by the Office for Financial Sanctions Implementation for potential breaches of sanctions.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation is committed to ensuring businesses and individuals comply with financial sanctions to taking firm action when they don’t, including levying monetary penalties where appropriate. It is important to note that assets are only required to be frozen after a sanctions designation has been made. After the designation, it is an offence to deal with any funds that have been frozen.


Written Question
Freezing of Assets: Russia
Thursday 31st March 2022

Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the total value of assets frozen to date under the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Amendment Regulations 2022.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

Relevant firms are legally obliged to report to the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) if they hold frozen assets of a designated person or entity they suspect to be on the list of asset freeze targets. OFSI is currently receiving a high volume of reporting about assets being frozen relating to sanctions imposed since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This information is being collated and assured. Fuller details will be released in due course, and will mark a substantial increase on previous assets reported as frozen under Russia sanctions.


Written Question
Freezing of Assets: Iran
Thursday 31st March 2022

Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the total value of assets frozen to date under the The Iran (Sanctions) (Human Rights) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The Office of Financial Sanctions (OFSI) undertakes an annual frozen assets review, requiring all persons or institutions that hold or control frozen assets in the UK to report to OFSI, from which this figure is taken. The figures are then published in OFSI’s annual review each autumn. The total frozen assets reported in the 2021 annual review were £12.2 billion. The figures for 2021 are being finalised.

As at September 2020, the value of assets reported to OFSI as frozen in the UK under The Iran (Sanctions) (Human Rights) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 was £17.60.


Written Question
Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation: Languages
Thursday 31st March 2022

Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many members of staff allocated to the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation speak (a) Russian and (b) Ukrainian.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), part of HM Treasury, is the competent authority for financial sanctions in the UK. The number of active staff in OFSI since Financial Year 2016-2017 can be found in the table below:

Financial Year

Total number of staff

2016-2017

27

2017-2018

30

2018-2019

36

2019-2020

38

2020-2021

40

Where the number of individuals covered is less than five, HMG considers that to provide an exact figure would constitute the disclosure of personal data. HMT is therefore unable to provide a breakdown of full time vs. part time staff.

In light of recent developments in Ukraine, the number of staff has since increased. Releasing further details of OFSI’s budget and headcount by function could prejudice its operational effectiveness.

HM Treasury does not hold data regarding the number of staff in the OFSI who speak (a) Russian and (b) Ukrainian.


Written Question
Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation: Staff
Thursday 31st March 2022

Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) full and (b) part time members of staff have been employed by the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation in each of the last five years.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), part of HM Treasury, is the competent authority for financial sanctions in the UK. The number of active staff in OFSI since Financial Year 2016-2017 can be found in the table below:

Financial Year

Total number of staff

2016-2017

27

2017-2018

30

2018-2019

36

2019-2020

38

2020-2021

40

Where the number of individuals covered is less than five, HMG considers that to provide an exact figure would constitute the disclosure of personal data. HMT is therefore unable to provide a breakdown of full time vs. part time staff.

In light of recent developments in Ukraine, the number of staff has since increased. Releasing further details of OFSI’s budget and headcount by function could prejudice its operational effectiveness.

HM Treasury does not hold data regarding the number of staff in the OFSI who speak (a) Russian and (b) Ukrainian.