Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has held discussions with his Rwandan counterpart on the UK-Rwanda Migration and Economic Development Partnership.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The British High Commission in Kigali has been in regular contact with the Rwandan Government regarding the Migration and Economic Development Partnership and the Home Secretary has spoken to the Rwandan Foreign Minister to confirm that this government will not be continuing with the policy. The Prime Minister also met President Kagame on 27 July and discussed their shared commitment to a strong bilateral relationship.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to his oral statement on 19 July 2024, Official Report, column 300 on Israel and Gaza, if his Department will take steps to monitor the neutrality of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
When the Foreign Secretary announced the resumption of funding on 19 July 2024, he said that UNRWA had taken serious action in response to the appalling allegations that UNRWA staff were involved in the 7 October attack against Israel.
The Government is confident that UNRWA is now taking action to ensure it meets the highest standards of neutrality and strengthening its procedures. £1 million of the £21 million of new UK funding will be earmarked to support UNRWA to implement the management reforms recommended by the independent Colonna review. Together with other donors, we will continue to monitor UNRWA's progress to implement the action plan. The FCDO will also continue to conduct our own annual assessment of UK funding to UNRWA.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what the total cost to the public purse was of staff diversity networks in his Department in each of the last five years.
Answered by David Rutley
The Government has audited the cost-effectiveness of all equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) activities, through the review of EDI spending announced last June. On 14 May the Minister without Portfolio made a written statement [https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2024-05-14/hcws464] on the latest findings from the review. In response to these findings, the Cabinet Office is publishing the Civil Service EDI Expenditure Guidance. This includes an end to all external spending on EDI activity, unless cleared and authorised by Ministers. Further guidance on diversity staff networks is being developed, and we will seek to publish additional data on historic spending to assist transparency in this area.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, how much official development assistance the UK has provided (a) bilaterally and (b) multilaterally to Cuba since 2010.
Answered by David Rutley
The table below shows (in £ thousands) UK's total bilateral Official Development Assistance (ODA) provided for Cuba from 2010-2022 (the latest year for which data has been published). The UK publishes further details of programme funding on DevTracker. The UK also spends ODA in the form of unearmarked contributions to multilateral organisations and there is bilateral spend to programmes which benefit multiple countries or regions. Some of this may benefit Cuba but it is not possible to provide a specific breakdown.
The UK has a long standing policy of engagement with Cuba. Our relationship allows us to collaborate positively in areas of mutual interest and to talk frankly on matters where our views differ.
Year | Total UK Bilateral ODA to Cuba (£ thousand) |
2010 | 250 |
2011 | 166 |
2012 | 1,449 |
2013 | 1,096 |
2014 | 3,957 |
2015 | 1,329 |
2016 | 2,688 |
2017 | 4,351 |
2018 | 4,650 |
2019 | 2,090 |
2020 | 1,837 |
2021 | 1,476 |
2022 | 561 |
Source: Statistics for International Development
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what his Department's policy is on the procurement of (a) food and (b) drinks produced in Britain for use in its canteens and restaurants.
Answered by David Rutley
The FCDO policy is aligned to the requirements set out in the Government Buying Standards for food and catering services. [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sustainable-procurement-the-gbs-for-food-and-catering-services]
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, how many and what proportion of (a) cars and (b) other vehicles used by his Department were made in Britain.
Answered by David Rutley
FCDO Flag cars are procured in line with a 2017 Ministerial decision to promote a globally recognised British Brand. Fleet cars procurement is at discretion of Posts. Jaguar and Land Rover (JLR) are always the preferred option, covering 126 of the 181 (70 percent) Countries/Territories presence. Where JLR are unable to provide support (JLR in country warranty management/ maintenance) in fragile environments Toyota Land Cruiser is the preferred alternative. We do not hold data on the number and proportion of FCDO cars and other vehicles that were made in Britain, however of the countries with JLR presence, 98 percent (124) are being supplied with JLR vehicles including 3-4 countries that do not have a dealership but are close enough to be served by a country with a JLR representative.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how many and what proportion of staff in his Department work from home.
Answered by David Rutley
Hybrid working is available to staff as a means of working across the FCDO, where business needs and roles allow. This means that staff can work from home for up to 40 percent of their contracted hours. The FCDO does not keep a central record of the number of our staff working from home. These arrangements are monitored and reviewed regularly. There are many staff who are unable to work from home due to the nature of their role.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how much funding his Department has provided to Stonewall in each year since 2019.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The FCDO works closely with a range of civil society organisations to defend the human rights of LGBT+ people around the world. Since 2018, Stonewall has delivered a number of projects in support of UK foreign policy priorities. This has included supporting the UK and Argentina as one of three civil society co-chairs of the Equal Rights Coalition; supporting LGBT+ women globally; addressing violence and hate crime in the Western Balkans and Asia and evacuating vulnerable LGBT+ people from Afghanistan. The FCDO withdrew from Stonewall Diversity Champions programme in 2022 and have not funded any Stonewall programmes related to internal diversity and inclusion since, to ensure value for money to the taxpayer.
Financial Year | Programme Spend |
2018/19 | £102,969 |
2019/20 | £114,944 |
2020/21 | £152,067 |
2021/22 | £585,436 |
2022/23 | £173,034 |
2023/24 (as of 29/01/2024) | £0 |
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what support his Department provides to the British nationals resident in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
Answered by Leo Docherty
In accordance with the rest of the international community, with the sole exception of Turkey, the UK does not recognise the self-declared "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" as an independent state. The UK recognises the Republic of Cyprus as the sovereign authority of Cyprus. The FCDO publishes travel advice which provides guidance on the most relevant issues for British nationals visiting or resident in Cyprus. This includes information about the north of Cyprus.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
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 aid supplied to Gaza; and what steps he is taking to ensure that aid is not utilised by Hamas.
Answered by David Rutley
The UK Government has recently announced £30 million of humanitarian funding to Gaza; and has sent more than 51 tonnes of emergency relief for civilians. This funding will support the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and others to respond to critical food, water, health and shelter needs. The UNRWA is currently the only agency able to operate at scale in Gaza. This is in addition to the £27 million of bilateral funding for FY 23/24 to the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs).
All FCDO partners in the OPTs operate with enhanced sensitivity requirements and additional safeguards to protect against the possibility of aid diversion. These safeguards include measures on verification and mapping of downstream partners, non-payment of local taxes and enhanced due diligence processes.