Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has had discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the ratification of the Global Ocean Treaty.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Following Royal Assent of the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Act (BBNJ), further secondary legislation is required before the BBNJ Agreement can be ratified by the UK. This will happen when the parliamentary timetable allows.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
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 humanitarian situation in South Kordofan, Sudan; and what steps she is taking to help protect (a) civilians and (b) access to aid in South Kordofan.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 21 January in response to Questions 106571-78.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking through the (a) the Quad and (b) other diplomatic routes to help find a cessation to conflict in Sudan.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 21 January in response to Questions 106571-78.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
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 implications for her policies of reports of UK arms export licences being linked to the conflict in Sudan; and whether she plans to suspend any UK arms export licences linked to arms use in Sudan, including via intermediaries.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon. Member to the responses provided in the Urgent Question debate on the Conflict in Sudan on 5 November 2025, where these issues were discussed at length.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether there are pending applications for arms export licences for arms to Israel.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
The Government publishes data on export licensing decisions on a quarterly basis in the Official Statistics, including data on outcome, end user destination, overall value, type (e.g. military, other) and a summary of the items covered by these licences. This data is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/strategic-export-controls-licensing-data.The most recent Official Statistics cover the period 1 April - 30 June 2023. Information regarding export licensing decisions made between 1 July - 30 September 2023 will be published after April 2024 and information regarding export licensing decisions made between 1 October - 31 March 2024 will be published later this year.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent assessment the International Humanitarian Law (IHL) Compliance Assessment Process has made of (a) Israel's commitment and capability to comply with International Humanitarian Law and (b) its past record of compliance with IHL.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
We have previously assessed that Israel is committed and capable of complying with International Humanitarian Law. We regularly review our assessment.
The Government operates a robust and thorough assessment of licence applications against the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria. We regularly publish data on export licensing decisions on the dedicated gov.uk site: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/strategic-export-controls-licensing-data. That data covers export licensing decisions made to the end of June 2023. Information regarding export licensing decisions made since 1 July 2023 has not yet been published.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what is the value of the (a) 28 extant and (b) 28 pending arms export licences to Israel identified in the Change of Circumstances review in 2023.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
We have previously assessed that Israel is committed and capable of complying with International Humanitarian Law. We regularly review our assessment.
The Government operates a robust and thorough assessment of licence applications against the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria. We regularly publish data on export licensing decisions on the dedicated gov.uk site: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/strategic-export-controls-licensing-data. That data covers export licensing decisions made to the end of June 2023. Information regarding export licensing decisions made since 1 July 2023 has not yet been published.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of international coordination on supporting peace, human rights and democracy in Sudan.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
On Friday, the UN Security Council adopted the UK-led resolution 2724, calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Sudan during Ramadan. This resolution supports the Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy, Ramtane Lamamra, to co-ordinate regional peace efforts. We continue to call on Sudan’s warring parties to commit to a meaningful peace process that will deliver the stability the Sudanese people deserve.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the impact of the halting of cross-border humanitarian operations on (a) the delivery of UK aid to Sudanese refugees in Chad and (b) those displaced within Sudan.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
The UK condemns in the strongest terms the decision of the de facto authorities to stop humanitarian personnel and supplies from entering Sudan from Chad. The UK will do all we can to press for this further serious restriction on humanitarian access to be urgently lifted. On 27 February, the UK called the UN Security Council to convene for a closed consultation in response to this issue. We used this opportunity to condemn the decision and called for the re-instatement of permission for humanitarian supplies and workers to cross from Chad as well as for crossline access from Port Sudan into areas of Sudan under control of the Rapid Support Forces. We are currently urgently reviewing UKAid that may be affected to ensure our aid can still reach those in need. Given further increased risk of famine in Darfur as a result of this decision, we have also been urging the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) to make a formal warning of the risk of famine in Sudan, through the issuance of a White Note under UNSC Resolution 2417.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent steps his department has taken to improve the efficiency of UK aid programmes with regards to (a) reducing poverty and (b) increasing prosperity
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
Last November, the UK published the International Development White Paper which set out our agenda to re-energise progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, including the central aim of eliminating extreme poverty. To this end, the UK has committed to spend at least 50 per cent of our bilateral ODA in the Least Developed Countries by 2030.
Our goal, as set out in the White Paper, is to help countries transform the productivity of their economies at a pace sufficient to meet the needs of their growing populations, mobilise investment, provide quality jobs and deliver quality public services for their citizens.