Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much (a) his Department and (b) each of its arm’s length bodies has spent on external communications through (i) Crown Commercial Service agreement RM6125 and (ii) other agreements since 5 July 2024; and which firms have received funding.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Contracts awarded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) are available via ContractsFinder (https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder) and Find-a-Tender-Service (https://www.gov.uk/find-tender). FCDO spend above £25,000 is available via https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fcdo-departmental-spending-over-25000, and summary figures are available via the FCDO's Annual Report and Accounts (the latest report is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fcdo-annual-report-and-accounts-2023-to-2024).
The FCDO is not responsible for procurement on behalf of our arm's length bodies.
Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much (a) his Department and (b) each of its Arm’s Length Bodies has spent on external public relations since 5 July 2024; and which firms that funding went to.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Public relations activity is a subset of communication spend. As such, this data is not held. The Government Communication Service encourages the prioritisation of low and no cost public relations activities wherever possible. It is recommended that all external communications support should be procured through approved government frameworks [https://www.crowncommercial.gov.uk/agreements/RM6125], with strict controls in place to ensure cost-effectiveness.
Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 3 January 2025 to Question 20491 on Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Media, which contractors were used for the spending on media training; which Ministers received the media training; and whether voice training was included as part of the training.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The contractor used for media training was Robert Taylor Communications Ltd. As Minister for Indo-Pacific at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development I received the media training. No voice training was conducted as part of the media training.
Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps he is taking to support Ukraine's efforts to counter Russia's invasion.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is in constant contact with our Allies to ensure a collective doubling down of support for Ukraine and pressure on Putin’s war machine. The Foreign Secretary spoke to President Zelenskyy on 18 December at a meeting of European leaders hosted by NATO Secretary General Rutte, and reiterated the UK’s unwavering commitment to support Ukraine for as long as it takes. On the 10 January, the Foreign Secretary announced sanctions on two Russian oil giants, Gazprom Neft and PJSC Surgutneftegas, alongside the US. The UK has sanctioned 93 vessels in the Russian shadow fleet.
Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much their Department spent on (a) media and (b) voice training for Ministers since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Since 5 July 2024, £1848 has been spent by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office on media or voice training for junior Ministers.