Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
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 help prevent further escalation of conflict in El Obeid, Sudan, and to support the protection of civilians and the delivery of safe, rapid, unhindered and sustained humanitarian assistance to El Obeid and other conflict-affected areas of Sudan.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 9 July in response to Question HL1347.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what support she is providing for credible election observation and rule-of-law monitoring in Nigeria.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 10 March 2026 in response to Question 117243.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to help ensure the 2027 Nigerian election is free, fair and fully competitive.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 10 March 2026 in response to Question 117243.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what plans she has to support John Smith Trust fellowship programmes during the Spending Review Period.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are proud to be supporting the John Smith Trust this year to run their excellent fellowship programme in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, supporting leading professionals to take action in their countries on climate change. We are working through detailed decisions on how the Official Development Assistance budget will be used from 2026/27 to 2028/29, informed by internal and external consultation and impact assessments. We plan to publish indicative allocations for the next three years in the coming months.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the UK-US Economic Prosperity Deal on his Department.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
On 16 June, this Government announced progress towards the implementation of the UK-US trade deal. This now includes tariff exemptions on UK aerospace and automobile industries. As set out in the Foreign Secretary's British Chambers of Commerce speech in March 2025, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office serves as the international delivery arm of this Government's mission for growth. The US-UK deal provides the foundation for a new reciprocal trading partnership with our single largest trading partner which will support our efforts to protect UK jobs, open market access and strengthen co-operation on economic security with the US. I recently hosted excellent talks in this regard for example with the Governor of Virgina and a roundtable of UK businesses.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether their Department offers its staff shared parental leave from their first working day.
Answered by Catherine West
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is committed to supporting its employees in balancing their work and family responsibilities. The FCDO offers Shared Parental Leave (SPL) to all eligible staff, providing them with the flexibility to share parental responsibilities from the very beginning of their employment.
As with any changes to employment legislation, internal policies and processes will be updated as appropriate in preparation for when the Employment Rights Bill 2024 comes into effect.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when he plans to respond to Question 7449 on Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Private Education, tabled by the Rt hon. Member for West Worcestershire on 7 October 2024.
Answered by Catherine West
We are grateful to the Honourable member for bringing this matter to our attention. We apologise for the delay. The FCDO published a response to Question 7449 on 17 October 2024.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the situation in Myanmar.
Answered by Catherine West
This government will continue to support the Myanmar people and their aspirations for a free and democratic future. The UK will continue to use its role as penholder at the UN Security Council to maintain an international spotlight on Myanmar. We will continue to support ASEAN's leadership on the crisis, including the full implementation of the Five Point Consensus and the work of the Special Envoy. This government will continue to use targeted sanctions, to constrain the military's access to finance, arms and equipment. Since the coup, the UK has provided more than £150 million in life-saving humanitarian assistance, emergency healthcare and education support, and work to support civil society and local communities.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help tackle the human rights situation in Myanmar.
Answered by Catherine West
The UK condemns human rights abuses by the Myanmar military regime and is clear that there must be accountability for atrocities committed. The UK has provided £800,000 to the Independent Mechanism for Myanmar and established the Myanmar Witness programme to gather and preserve evidence of human rights violations in support of future prosecutions. In April, we co-sponsored a UN Human Rights Council resolution on Myanmar which stressed the need to address the root causes of human rights violations and abuses against ethnic and religious minority groups.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help improve the humanitarian situation in Myanmar.
Answered by Catherine West
Since the coup in February 2021, the UK has provided more than £150 million for life-saving humanitarian assistance, healthcare, education and support for civil society and local communities in Myanmar. Since September 2022, UK funding has provided over 560,000 people in conflict-affected areas with essential humanitarian support, including safe water and sanitation. Most recently, the UK Government provided £1.3 million to help address the impact of the severe flooding in September.