Asked by: Katie Lam (Conservative - Weald of Kent)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what his Department's policy is on the impact of international court rulings on the UK's sovereignty over (a) Gibraltar, (b) the Falkland Islands, (c) RAF Akrotiri and Dhekelia and (d) other overseas territories.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
There have not been any rulings from international courts on the UK's sovereignty over Gibraltar, the Falkland Islands, the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia or any other Overseas Territories. The circumstances around the Diego Garcia Military Base Agreement are unique with absolutely no bearing on the wider Overseas Territories. It is a very different issue with a very different history. We remain committed to our Overseas Territories family. Sovereignty of other Overseas Territories is not up for negotiation.
Asked by: Katie Lam (Conservative - Weald of Kent)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much and what proportion of the Official Development Assistance budget has been reallocated to meet asylum-related costs since July 2024.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Home Secretary is committed to ensuring that asylum costs fall and has already acted. The Government has taken measures to reduce the asylum backlog and reform the asylum accommodation system to end the use of expensive accommodation in the next Spending Review period to ensure more of our Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget is spent on our development priorities overseas.
The aid spent in the UK on refugee and asylum costs fell by a third last year and the Home Office is working to bring it down further. The provisional Statistics on International Development show that in 2024, £2.8 billion was spent on support to refugees or asylum seekers in the UK, a £1.4 billion or one third reduction on the previous year. This reduces the share of ODA spent on asylum costs in the UK to 20 per cent, down from 28 per cent.
We report on ODA spend annually as part of the Statistics on International Development publication. Provisional figures for 2025 will be available in spring 2026.
Asked by: Katie Lam (Conservative - Weald of Kent)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has a line in his Departmental budget for costs arising from the planned transfer of sovereignty of the British Indian Ocean Territory to Mauritius.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Agreement will be underpinned by a financial package which will consist of: an annual payment; a Development Framework underpinned by UK grant funding; and a Trust Fund to benefit Chagossians. Costs and other aspects of the Treaty can be found at the following link - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ukmauritius-agreement-concerning-the-chagos-archipelago-including-diego-garcia-cs-mauritius-no12025
Asked by: Katie Lam (Conservative - Weald of Kent)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much Overseas Development Assistance funding has contributed to the (a) establishment and (b) ongoing operation of foreign abattoirs since July 2024.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office deploys Official Development Assistance (ODA) to fund a range of organisations and programmes which address the productivity of farmers and small-medium enterprises in agri-food value chains in developing countries.
Figures for the UK 2024 ODA are due to be published in Autumn 2025 through the Statistics on International Development report. ODA is an international measure and is collected and reported on a calendar year basis.