Asked by: Phil Brickell (Labour - Bolton West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to assist the Central Bank of Bangladesh in repatriating UK-based assets diverted illegally from that country.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is committed to assisting investigative, prosecuting and judicial authorities in combating international crime. We have robust illicit finance legislation and instruments which can be used to support asset recovery requests. We would not comment on any individual Asset Recovery cases but we are in discussions with the International Anti-Corruption Coordination Centre hosted by the UK's National Crime Agency and the International Centre for Asset Recovery on how to support the Interim Government of Bangladesh. In October 2024, the UK National Crime Agency visited Dhaka as part of the UK's effort to support Bangladesh in this area, as well as wider engagement on law enforcement issues. We will continue to support these recoveries to the extent that we can.
Asked by: Phil Brickell (Labour - Bolton West)
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 use UK-based assets that were expropriated by the Assad regime for (a) aid and (b) re-development projects to help the Syrian people.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
UK-based assets expropriated by the Assad regime remain frozen. As with all our sanctions, we keep our approach under review.
We do not comment on future designations as to do so lessens their potential impact.
Asked by: Phil Brickell (Labour - Bolton West)
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 ensure the financial stability of the British Council.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This Government is committed to a successful British Council that is financially stable. Our funding to the British Council underlines our support. The FCDO will provide the British Council with £162.5 million Grant-in-Aid in 2024/25. Funding for 2025/26 will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Phil Brickell (Labour - Bolton West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the meeting between the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Indo-Pacific and Hong Kong’s Convenor of the Executive Council on the human rights situation in Hong Kong.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I met Regina Ip on 31 October. Human rights were raised as part of the discussion. The UK will continue to speak often and candidly with Hong Kong authorities across both areas of contention as well as areas for cooperation. Engagement with representatives of Hong Kong and China is pragmatic and necessary to support UK interests.
Asked by: Phil Brickell (Labour - Bolton West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 18 October 2024 to Question 8363, what minimum requirements his Department set out as being an expectation in any legitimate interest access regime for public registers of beneficial ownership in the Overseas Territories.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Tackling illicit finance in the UK, as well as in our Overseas Territories (OTs) and Crown Dependencies (CDs) is a priority for this Government. We consider publicly accessible registers of beneficial ownership (PARBOs) a vital tool for combatting financial secrecy. I have been clear to OT leaders that full PARBOs are our ultimate expectation. Where a legitimate interest access regime is implemented as an interim step, I have set out minimum requirements, and the UK's belief that any legitimate interest registers should be delivered with the maximum degree of access and transparency. I was delighted Montserrat joined Gibraltar in launching a full PARBO on 11 October. We are continuing to engage with OTs, and I will discuss this with leaders at the Joint Ministerial Council next week. I am looking forward to further progress on this by other OTs in the very near future.
Asked by: Phil Brickell (Labour - Bolton West)
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 report entitled Report of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan published by the UN’s Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan on 6 September 2024.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Following publication of its first report in September, the UK co-led the renewal on 9 October 2024 of the Fact-Finding Mission's mandate for a further year. The UK will continue to use its position as penholder at the Security Council and the Human Rights Council to keep a spotlight on the human rights situation in Sudan. During the 120-day UN Security Council session on Sudan on 28 October, the UK called on the warring parties to urgently facilitate humanitarian access, and we have also called on Member States to refrain from external interference, including our explanation of vote following the adoption of resolution 2750 on 11 September to renew the UN Darfur arms embargo and sanctions regime. The UK welcomes the Secretary-General's recommendations on protection of civilians, which was requested in UK-led resolution 2736 as an important step for prioritising protection of civilians in the conflict. It concluded that conditions for the successful deployment of a Protection of Civilians force, as recommended in the FFM's report, do not currently exist.