Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps the Government is taking to help (a) expand and (b) support existing marine protected areas across the UK Overseas Territories.

Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK Overseas Territories (OTs) are an integral and richly biodiverse part of the British family. Since 2016, the Government has worked to assist the OTs with managing their Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and sustainable management frameworks through the FCDO's Blue Belt Programme, which provides support, training and technical expertise to protect species and habitats within their waters. The Programme exemplifies what we can achieve in partnership with the OTs, supports the protection of over 4.4 million square kilometres of ocean, and also provides remote surveillance which ensures vessel and fishing activity within these MPAs remains compliant.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assistance has been provided for the development of digital infrastructure in (a) the British Overseas Territories and (b) Caribbean Commonwealth countries since 2014.

Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Whilst digital infrastructure is a mostly devolved matter, the UK provides significant support to the four Official Development Assistance (ODA) eligible Territories. The FCDO-funded capital investment programme in Montserrat recently delivered a sub-sea fibre cable and in St Helena we are supporting improvements in the local telecommunications infrastructure.

The UK has not provided support for digital infrastructure in the Caribbean through our bilateral ODA. However, we continue to support the development of digital infrastructure through our shareholding in multilateral agencies including the World Bank, Inter-American and Caribbean Development Banks.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to (a) expand, (b) strengthen and (c) protect Marine Protected Areas in the UK's Overseas Territories.

Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Each UK Government department has a nominated Minster with responsibility for the Overseas Territories (OTs). The Government engages on marine protection with the OTs through the Blue Belt programme which is an FCDO funded initiative delivered in close collaboration with DEFRA. The programme has supported the OTs since 2016 with the creation, protection and enforcement of their Marine Protected Areas, protecting over 4.4 million square kilometres of ocean habitats and species.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on their responsibilities to the overseas territories.

Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

As the Minister for Overseas Territories, I [Minister Rutley] regularly meet Ministers across Government on priority areas of work progressed by their departments, and on issues requiring cross departmental collaboration. This includes recent meetings with Ministers from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, HM Treasury, Ministry of Justice, Home Office and Ministry of Defence.

Each UK Government Department has nominated a Minister with responsibility for the OTs, in support of the long-standing position that each Department should engage and support the OTs in their areas of responsibility. These Ministers meet quarterly as a Ministerial Group chaired by myself, as the FCDO Minister for the Overseas Territories.

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Found: country or territory outside the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or the British

Found: Subsection (3) clarifies that the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and the British Overseas Territories

Found: country or territory outside the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or the British

Found: country or territory outside the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or the British

Found: Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories

Found: “Commonwealth citizen” means: (a) a British Overseas Territories citizen, a British National (Overseas

Found: “Commonwealth citizen” means: (a) a British Overseas Territories citizen, a British National (Overseas

Found: for 70 years and involved around 7,000 UK Armed Forces personnel, 33 Commonwealth nations and six British

Found: British Overseas Territories landings are not reflected by the data in this publication.

Found: British Overseas Territories landings are not reflected by the data in this publication.Table 1a - Landings

Found: overseas This section will apply if the Applicant has lived overseas (including the Republic of Ireland, British

Found: overseas This section will apply if the Applicant has lived overseas (including the Republic of Ireland, British

Found: overseas This section will apply if the Applicant has lived overseas (including the Republic of Ireland, British

Found: overseas This section will apply if the Applicant has lived overseas (including the Republic of Ireland, British

Found: addition, another change being made includes provisions for an exemption to the ETA requirement for British

Found: addition, another change being made includes provisions for an exemption to the ETA requirement for British

Found: though Parliament may legislate, in particular, for the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and the British

Found: a part of an Act by Order in Council to any of the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or any of the British