To match an exact phrase, use quotation marks around the search term. eg. "Parliamentary Estate". Use "OR" or "AND" as link words to form more complex queries.


Keep yourself up-to-date with the latest developments by exploring our subscription options to receive notifications direct to your inbox

Written Question
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Private Education
Monday 9th September 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, 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.


Written Question
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Private Education
Tuesday 30th July 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, 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.


Written Question
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Private Education
Tuesday 30th July 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 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.


Written Question
Marshall Scholarships
Thursday 18th January 2024

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.


Written Question
Russia: Sanctions
Wednesday 15th November 2023

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 prevent evasion of Russian oil price cap sanctions.

Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan

The oil sanctions imposed by the UK and its partners, including the oil price cap, are working. Russia's oil revenues fell 25 per-cent year-on-year between January and September 2023, while the cap has also been effectively protecting global oil market security. The UK and our Coalition partners are aware of circumvention risks and employ strategies to minimise them. The UK has placed new sanctions on entities used by Russia to attempt to lessen the impact of our oil sanctions. We also continue to lead active discussions with our partners on the most effective means of continuing to tackle circumvention and increasing Russia's costs in doing so.

The UK has implemented a strong enforcement approach focused on prohibition, with the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), HMRC, and the National Crime Agency jointly considering cases which may be appropriate for criminal prosecution. On 12 October, the UK published a joint maritime advisory statement directed at government and private sector actors involved in the trade of Russian crude and refined products. The statement provided recommendations concerning sanctions-compliant practices that reduce exposure to possible circumvention risks.


Written Question
Sudan: Democracy
Tuesday 29th November 2022

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, if he will take steps to set out a (a) strategy and (b) timetable to work with (i) Sudan and (ii) the wider international community to help Sudan transition to democracy.

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

Working with international partners, including the Troika (UK, US and Norway), we are supporting Sudanese efforts to resolve the current political crisis through the establishment of a civilian-led government. We continue to urge Sudanese actors to swiftly reach an agreement on this. This message was delivered by the UK Special Representative for Sudan and South Sudan, and the UK Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea during a visit to Khartoum in September, as well as by the British Ambassador to Sudan. However, the UK's strategy and possible timeframes on working with Sudan and the international community must be guided by the wishes of the Sudanese people, it is essential that Sudan's journey to a democratic transition is Sudanese-led.


Written Question
Madagascar: Forests
Friday 11th November 2022

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 the Government is providing to help the reforestation of Madagascar.

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

In the financial year 2021/22 the FCDO spent £13 million of UK ODA bilaterally through centrally managed programmes, principally on humanitarian response (£6 million), family planning (£3.5 million) and disaster risk insurance (£2.1 million). Our key multi-lateral partners in Madagascar are the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the African Development Bank and the UN System, including the global health, education and climate funds.

In December 2022, DEFRA will launch its Bio-Diverse Landscapes Fund programme in Madagascar. This will spend £10 million over 6 years to protect and restore Madagascar's dry and humid terrestrial forests and will complement existing DEFRA-funded work to protect mangrove forests in the marine environment. There are also several biodiversity and conservation projects in Madagascar through the Darwin Initiative.


Written Question
Madagascar: Development Aid
Friday 11th November 2022

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 UK Overseas Development Assistance is being spent in Madagascar in (a) bilateral and (b) multilateral programmes and if he will list the programmes and projects.

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

In the financial year 2021/22 the FCDO spent £13 million of UK ODA bilaterally through centrally managed programmes, principally on humanitarian response (£6 million), family planning (£3.5 million) and disaster risk insurance (£2.1 million). Our key multi-lateral partners in Madagascar are the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the African Development Bank and the UN System, including the global health, education and climate funds.

In December 2022, DEFRA will launch its Bio-Diverse Landscapes Fund programme in Madagascar. This will spend £10 million over 6 years to protect and restore Madagascar's dry and humid terrestrial forests and will complement existing DEFRA-funded work to protect mangrove forests in the marine environment. There are also several biodiversity and conservation projects in Madagascar through the Darwin Initiative.


Written Question
Africa: Food Supply
Monday 5th September 2022

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, if she will take diplomatic steps to encourage (a) donor governments and (b) private sector partners to scale up the global response to the hunger crisis in Africa.

Answered by Vicky Ford

The UK is pressing for an urgent collective response to food insecurity in Africa, building on the first G7 Famine Prevention Compact agreed during the UK's presidency in 2021. In April, the UK helped bring states together at a UN drought roundtable which mobilised roughly $400 million in new commitments for the East Africa region. The Minister for Farming, Fisheries and Food, Victoria Prentis and I attended the G7 leaders meeting in June where participants pledged an additional $4.5 billion of support, including a UK commitment of £372 million. We continue to support the G7 Global Alliance on Food Security and the UN Global Crisis Response Group to mobilise support from other donor governments.

I have written to the World Bank President and the UN's Emergency Relief Coordinator to encourage them to do more. The UN has confirmed a scale-up of efforts in Somalia and Ethiopia. The Multilateral Development Banks, including the World Bank and Africa Development Bank, have in total announced more than $35 billion of funding. The Banks are rapidly approving projects, totalling $24 billion at the World Bank and $1.1 billion at the African Development Bank, directly supporting vulnerable households and farmers and supporting a shift towards more resilient agriculture.


Written Question
Africa: Food Supply
Monday 5th September 2022

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 the G7 pledge of $4.5 billion to fight global hunger will support the immediate needs of people in the Horn of Africa, Sudan, South Sudan and the Sahel.

Answered by Vicky Ford

Famine prevention is a key priority for the FCDO. The UK played a leading role in the famine prevention global call to action launched in 2020 as well as the G7 famine prevention and humanitarian crises compact. With G7 allies, and in support of the UN Global Crises Response Group, we agreed to address the causes and consequences of the global food crisis through a Global Alliance for Food Security, a joint initiative which will be launched by G7 Development Ministers.

The UK will work closely with these organisations including through our network of country-based advisors to ensure that this money is used effectively and that allocations are made accordingly to need, including in the Horn, Sudan, South Sudan and the Sahel.