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Written Question
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Oliver Wyman
Tuesday 27th February 2024

Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with reference to the contract initiated by his Department with Oliver Wyman Ltd from 4 September 2023, tender reference 349331/1281857, what work was allocated under that contract at the most recent monthly meeting of his Department's Project Allocation Board.

Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

No work was allocated at the most recent Project Allocation Board using the Oliver Wyman Ltd contract of 4 September 2023.


Written Question
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Visits Abroad
Friday 9th February 2024

Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what the cost to the public purse of his Department's Envoy for the UK-African Investment Summit 2024 visit to (a) Morocco from 10 to 11, (b) Cameroon from 16 to 17, (c) Ghana from 23 to 24 and (d) Rwanda from 30 to 31 January 2024 was.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

The UK-Africa Investment Summit Envoy's role was to engage with invited governments on Summit preparations and our bilateral trade and investment partnerships. His visits offered important opportunities to explore and test UK plans and ambition with African partners in advance of the Summit. In January, the Envoy undertook four visits to African countries. The cost of these visits was:

a) Morocco 10-11 January: £653.37

(b) Cameroon 16-17 January: £1,677.71

(c) Ghana 23-24 January: £3,198.23

(d) Rwanda 29-31 January: £4,713.89

The role of the UK-AIS Envoy has been crucial to engaging with African countries on our shared goal of intensifying trade and investment partnerships.


Written Question
UK-Africa Investment Summit
Wednesday 7th February 2024

Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Postponement of the UK-African Investment Summit, published on 31 January 2024, on what date he took the decision to postpone that summit; for what reason that summit was postponed; and on what date the Envoy for the UK-African Investment Summit 2024 was informed of that decision.

Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)

The UK-African Investment Summit (UK-AIS), due to take place in April 2024, has been postponed to a later date owing to scheduling issues in the international calendar. New summit dates will be announced in due course.

The UK-AIS Envoy was informed of the postponement of the Summit on 29 January shortly after the decision was taken, at which point he was already en route to Rwanda. During his visit, he informed the Rwandan government of the postponement and discussed our trade and investment partnership.


Written Question
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Visits Abroad
Friday 2nd February 2024

Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with reference to the data entitled FCDO’s ministerial travel, July to September 2022, what the cost was of the accommodation used by the former Secretary of State on her visit to Indonesia from 6 to 8 July 2022.

Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Overall figures of government spend are regularly published as part of transparency releases. Information on all FCDO ministerial gifts, hospitality, travel and meetings from July to September 2022 can be found here [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fcdo-ministerial-gifts-hospitality-travel-and-meetings-july-to-september-2022].

Foreign travel is a vital part of diplomacy. It is in the national interest that the Foreign Secretary and other Ministers travel abroad to pursue UK interests. Value for money is taken into account in all travel decisions.


Written Question
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Procurement
Thursday 18th January 2024

Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, pursuant to the Answer of 11 January to Question 8388 on Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Procurement, if he will take steps to either (a) ensure that hon. Members can log in to his Department's Jaggaer e-sourcing tool to access the information referred to in that Answer or (b) make alternative arrangements for hon. Members to access that information by other means.

Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The sixteen locations where the services are required are detailed below:

Location

Addis Ababa

Beijing

Berlin

Boston

Brasilia

Buenos Aires

Canberra

Dublin

Geneva

Luxembourg

Ottawa

Prague

Pretoria

Stockholm

Vienna

Wellington

This information is available within the tender documentation outlined within Attachment 4 - Statement of Service Requirements under Paragraph 5.4. This information is available via the FCDO e-sourcing tool Jaggaer which is accessible by suppliers: [https://fcdo.bravosolution.co.uk/web/login.html], interested suppliers are able to create a log in and access the documents via this system.

Additionally, once the contract has been awarded, a contract award notice along with a redacted contract will be published via Contracts Finder, [https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder].


Written Question
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution
Thursday 18th January 2024

Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how many purchases with a value of less than £500 were made against his Department’s budget through a Government procurement card in calendar year 2022; and what was the total cost of those purchases.

Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Government Procurement Cards provide an efficient route to enable key staff to procure goods and services, necessary to the promotion of British interests overseas and the maintenance of our embassies and high commissions. All purchases are subject to authorisation by managers and audit checks.

In the calendar year 2022 there were 133,292 transactions under £500. These transactions amounted to a total spend value of £13,563,777.20. This figure relates to spend on all Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) issued Government Procurement Cards and may therefore include costs eventually charged to the budgets of other Government Departments.


Written Question
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution
Wednesday 17th January 2024

Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how many people based (a) in the UK and (b) overseas held government procurement cards to make purchases against his Department’s budget as of (i) 31 December 2022, (ii) 31 March 2023 and (iii) 31 December 2023.

Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

As of 11 January 2024 the data is as follows:

Based in the UK = 845
Based Overseas = 4,783

Government Procurement Cards provide an efficient route to enable key staff to procure goods and services, necessary to the promotion of British interests overseas and the maintenance of our embassies and high commissions. All purchases are subject to authorisation by managers and audit checks.


Written Question
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution
Tuesday 16th January 2024

Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, when he plans to publish the details of his Department's expenditure over £500 using a government procurement card for (a) 1 November to 31 December 2022 and (b) 1 January to 30 November 2023.

Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The publication of the reports referenced have been delayed as a result of the transition to a new reporting system. We remain committed to transparency and reports will be provided in due course.


Written Question
Government Hospitality: Wines
Thursday 11th January 2024

Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, when he plans to publish the bi-annual report on the Government Wine Cellar for 2020-22; and with reference to the Answer of 24 July 2023 to Question 194689 and pursuant to the Answer of 22 November 2023 to Question 1466 on Government Hospitality: Wines, for what reasons the report was not published (a) in Autumn 2023 and (b) before the Christmas recess.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

The Report was published on 11th January 2024. We profusely apologise for the delay in the publication of the report.


Written Question
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Procurement
Thursday 11th January 2024

Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, pursuant to the procurement exercise launched by his Department on 12 December 2023 under tender reference 350584/1290656, if he will publish the sixteen locations where valuation services under the proposed contract are required.

Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The sixteen locations where valuation services under the proposed contract are required have been published within the Tender Documents which can be accessed via FCDO e-sourcing tool Jaggaer [https://fcdo.bravosolution.co.uk/web/login.html]. The Department will publish notices and associated documentation for this procurement in line with Transparency Requirements [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ppn-0123-requirements-to-publish-on-contracts-finder/guidance-on-the-transparency-requirements-for-publishing-on-contracts-finder-html].