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 - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
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 - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
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 - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
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 - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
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 - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
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.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 30 July 2024 on Question 1266, what recent estimate he has made of the potential impact of the introduction of VAT on private school fees on his Department's budget for (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2025-26.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
From 1 January 2025, VAT will be charged on private school fees at 20 percent. We have contacted the schools to ask how they intend to implement the introduction of VAT, but we do not yet have a full picture. Based on an assumption of how schools might apply the increase to parents and the impact on fees, we expect that the increased cost to the FCDO could be around an additional £1 million for 24/25 and £2.5 million in 25/26. The FCDO will continue to assess the longer-term financial impact.
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, pursuant to the Answer of 30 July 2024 to Question 1266 on Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Private Education, if he will make an estimate of the potential impact of the imposition of VAT on school fees from January 2025 on his departmental budget in (a) 2024/25 and (b) 2025/26.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
It has been long-standing practice under successive governments for the FCDO to support children of staff who have been, are, or will be posted abroad to complete key stages of their education without disruption. The FCDO cannot accurately estimate the impact of a 20 percent VAT increase on school fees, since we do not know if, or by how much schools will transfer the costs of fees to parents.
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, how many staff in his Department are currently eligible to have their children's school fees paid by his Department.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In 2023/24, 341 FCDO staff were in receipt of Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) funding for their children to attend a UK boarding school. 699 FCDO staff based overseas with children were attending an overseas school funded by the FCDO. The FCDO Headcount of UK based staff at 31/3/23 was 7,601 staff.
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 estimate he has made of the financial impact of a 20% VAT increase on school fees on his departmental budget in (a) 2024/25 and (b) 2025/26.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The FCDO cannot accurately estimate the impact of a 20 percent VAT increase on school fees, since we do not know if schools will transfer the costs of fees to parents, or from what date the VAT will be introduced.
Asked by: Harriett Baldwin (Conservative - West Worcestershire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what his Department's remaining budgeting is for supporting Marshall scholarships in the current spending review period.
Answered by David Rutley
In this spending review period, FCDO funding to the Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission (MACC) to manage the Marshall Scholarship, is £2.7 million per annum. In 24/25 the Prime Minister announced as part of the Atlantic Declaration in June 2023 an uplift to the MACC of £1.4 million, meaning £4.1 million will be provided to the MACC in the next financial year.