Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 15 November 2024 to Question 13191 on Exports: Ukraine, which Departments he is waiting to receive advice on before concluding this export licence application; and what steps his Department is taking to hasten advice.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU) is comprised of experts in the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and the Ministry of Defence (MOD). The FCDO advises DBT on the situation in country and the risks this poses with respect to the UK's export control responsibilities. The MOD advises DBT on the risks of diversion of exported goods and national security risks arising from hostile state activity. As the decision-making authority for all export licensing decisions DBT takes advice from both Departments and is in daily contact with them where necessary to ensure that process happens as quickly as possible.
Exporters are advised in the first instance to contact the ECJU Licensing Unit, as they will be able to provide further updates on the progress of their applications and comment on any specific cases they would like to raise.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will list the meetings Ministers in his Department have had with Israeli officials since 7 December 2024.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
FCDO Ministers meet with a wide range of officials, but there have been no official meetings with Israeli officials since 7 December 2024.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when the last Joint Analysis of Conflict and Stability strategic assessment was carried out on the situation in Syria.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
A Joint Analysis of Conflict and Stability (JACS) strategic assessment is an OFFICIAL SENSITIVE paper that is used to underpin UK national security strategies, as well as UK government policy and programming. We do not publicly comment on the timings of specific JACS assessments.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his international counterparts on global price fluctuations in heating oil resulting from conflict in the Middle East.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign Secretary and I have had no discussions with our international counterparts on global oil price fluctuations caused by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many export licence applications related to Ukraine are still being assessed (a) three months and (b) six months after submission.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The processing of all export licence applications to Ukraine is being prioritised by ECJU. Within that process, applications for the export of equipment organised between the UK Government and the government of Ukraine through Ministry of Defence procurement mechanisms are given the highest priority.
As with all export licence applications, assessments are made on a case-by-case basis according to the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria. Assessments for Ukraine, given the situation within the country and the nature of the goods often being exported, mean these cases are some of the most complex for ECJU to process. Therefore, some can take longer to process than our public targets (to conclude 70% of standard individual export licence (SIEL) applications within 20 working days and 99% within 60 working days).
The volume of live applications changes daily, but the Government release statistics on export licensing decisions and processing times regularly and these can be broken down by end destination. The most recent statistics cover the period April to June 2024 and were published on 12 December. In that period, 36 (72%) SIELs for Ukraine were responded to within 20 working days and 45 (90%) were responded to within 60 working days.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on the conflict in Myanmar.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Since the coup in February 2021, the UK has provided more than £150 million for life-saving humanitarian assistance, healthcare, education and support for civil society and local communities in Myanmar. UK Ministers and officials work with many international partners to address the Myanmar crisis including the EU. G7 Foreign Ministers reiterated their commitment to addressing the Myanmar crisis in their November 2024 Foreign Ministers' Meeting. FCDO officials continue to coordinate with the EU on sanctions, including announcing a joint round of sanctions with Canada in October 2024 which targets the Myanmar military's access to military material, equipment and funds.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when he last had discussions with his Azerbaijani counterpart on the humanitarian situation in Nagorno Karabakh.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK remains in close contact with the Azerbaijani Government on a wide range of issues, including the humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh. I spoke with the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister on 31 October and discussed the situation in the region.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of placing Russia on a domestic money laundering watchlist.
Answered by Tulip Siddiq - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK’s list of high-risk third countries aligns with those countries identified by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) as having strategic deficiencies in their anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing regimes, which ensures that the identification of high-risk third countries is underpinned by the FATF’s consistent, technical methodology, and robust assessment processes.
Russia is not included in either the FATF’s or UK’s list of high-risk third countries. However, regulated businesses should in practice already be taking enhanced due diligence measures in relation to Russia because the UK Money Laundering Regulations require enhanced scrutiny in situations that present a high risk of money laundering or terrorist financing, and the UK’s National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing 2020 specifically highlights the significant volume of illicit finance emanating from Russia.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September to Question 3985 on Palestinians: Fire and Rescue Services, if he will take steps to help ensure the delivery of that donation.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK continues to call on Israel to increase humanitarian and commercial access into the Occupied Palestinian Territories by ensuring all aid crossings are fully operational, including the port of Ashdod. The Foreign Secretary recently spoke to Israeli Officials and raised the urgent need for a rapid increase in aid for those most in need. FCDO officials have raised the matter of this donation directly with the Israeli authorities. At a UK-chaired meeting of the UN Security Council on 12 November, Lord Collins called on Israel to immediately make good on its commitment to flood Gaza with aid. The Foreign Secretary reaffirmed these messages and the urgent need for a resolution at the UN Security Council on 18 November.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if her Department will provide guidance for businesses on the money laundering risks of transactions (a) directly and (b) indirectly linked to Russia.
Answered by Tulip Siddiq - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Treasury and the Home Office hold joint responsibility for publishing a periodic national risk assessment which sets out the money laundering and terrorist financing risks in the UK. The national risk assessment provides guidance to regulated firms by informing them of risks and the jurisdictions that these risks may come from.
The UK National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing 2020 provided an outline of those jurisdictions assessed to be particularly relevant to the cross-border money laundering faced by the UK. This included an assessment of the money laundering risks linked to Russia.
The next UK National Risk Assessment is now underway, underpinned by a rigorous process in collaboration with law enforcement and other key stakeholders.
The UK has also issued red alerts to the financial sector and other regulated sectors on specific areas of high risk relating to Russia to inform and direct their scrutiny.