Asked by: Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to (1) address, and (2) advocate against, the incidence of female genital mutilation being performed by healthcare workers in countries where it is nationally banned but historically performed.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Ending Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a priority for the FCDO and we are clear that there is no medical justification for the practice.
The UK Government is investing £35 million through our Africa-Led Movement (ALM) to End FGM programme.
Data generation through the programme has helped to build awareness of increased rates of medicalised FGM. The UK has engaged healthcare workers, through the World Health Organisation, to prevent FGM and care for survivors.
We are strengthening the health system response through our support to the UN Joint Programme on FGM. In 2021, the programme developed advocacy guidelines for health care providers in Indonesia on ending medicalised FGM.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to page 49 of the report entitled National Food Strategy: The Evidence, published 2021, whether she has made an assessment of trends in the level of the UK's greenhouse gas footprint per kilogram of bovine meat and how this compares to other countries.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Emissions from beef production are highly variable both between countries and within countries, reflecting a wide range of production systems. Defra has assessed the best available data, which suggest that emissions from UK beef production range between 16-34 kg CO2-eq per kg meat. These data also suggest that UK beef emissions are roughly equivalent to the rest of the EU, USA, and Australia, but notably less than Brazil or Indonesia. The UK is currently the fourth most efficient of 11 EU producers. Defra is keeping the evidence base on product carbon footprints under review and updating where required.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many Chevening scholarships have been awarded to each country for awarded for the 2023-24 academic year.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Chevening operates in over 160 countries and territories. For the 2023-24 academic year, our budget of £57.7 million Official Development Assistance (ODA), £1.6 million non-ODA funding, and additional income of around £13.2 million from tuition fee-waivers and external partners allowed us to offer 1440 awards of which 1383 were from ODA funding and 57 from non-ODA funding. Attached is a table indicating numbers from each eligible country. For countries where we offered fewer than five places we withhold the exact number as this would contravene one of the data protection principles. In this case, Sections 40(2) and 40 (3A)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act apply.
| ODA | Country | Awards made (incl. full/part partner funded awards) |
| ODA | AFGHANISTAN | 22 |
| ODA | ALBANIA | 11 |
| ODA | ALGERIA | 7 |
| ODA | ANGOLA / SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE | 15 |
| ODA | ARGENTINA | 15 |
| ODA | ARMENIA | 5 |
| ODA | AZERBAIJAN | 7 |
| ODA | BANGLADESH | 21 |
| ODA | BELARUS | 7 |
| ODA | BELIZE | Fewer than 5 |
| ODA | BHUTAN | 5 |
| ODA | BOLIVIA | 6 |
| ODA | BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA | 6 |
| ODA | BOTSWANA | 5 |
| ODA | BRAZIL | 46 |
| ODA | BURUNDI | Fewer than 5 |
| ODA | CAMBODIA | 14 |
| ODA | CAMEROON / CHAD / EQUATORIAL GUINEA / GABON | 8 |
| ODA | CHINA | 33 |
| ODA | COLOMBIA | 14 |
| ODA | CONGO, The Democratic Republic Of The/Central African Republic/Republic of Congo | Fewer than 5 |
| ODA | COSTA RICA / NICARAGUA | 6 |
| ODA | COTE D'IVOIRE | 7 |
| ODA | CUBA | 8 |
| ODA | DJIBOUTI | Fewer than 5 |
| ODA | DOMINICAN REPUBLIC/HAITI | 13 |
| ODA | EAST CARIBBEAN ODA (GRENADA, ST LUCIA, DOMINICA, ST VINCENT & THE GRENADINES, ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA) | 11 |
| ODA | EAST TIMOR | Fewer than 5 |
| ODA | ECUADOR | 6 |
| ODA | EGYPT | 30 |
| ODA | EL SALVADOR | Fewer than 5 |
| ODA | ERITREA | Fewer than 5 |
| ODA | Eswatini | Fewer than 5 |
| ODA | ETHIOPIA | 13 |
| ODA | GAMBIA | 5 |
| ODA | GEORGIA/South Caucasus | 14 |
| ODA | GHANA / BENIN / TOGO /BURKINA FASO | 16 |
| ODA | GUATEMALA / HONDURAS | 5 |
| ODA | GUINEA | Fewer than 5 |
| ODA | GUYANA / SURINAME | 5 |
| ODA | INDIA | 38 |
| ODA | INDONESIA | 43 |
| ODA | IRAQ | 18 |
| ODA | JAMAICA | 13 |
| ODA | JORDAN | 8 |
| ODA | KAZAKHSTAN | 9 |
| ODA | KENYA | 33 |
| ODA | KOSOVO | 8 |
| ODA | KYRGYZ REPUBLIC | Fewer than 5 |
| ODA | LAOS | 13 |
| ODA | LEBANON | 10 |
| ODA | LESOTHO | 6 |
| ODA | LIBERIA | Fewer than 5 |
| ODA | LIBYA | 10 |
| ODA | MADAGASCAR/COMOROS | 8 |
| ODA | MALAWI | 6 |
| ODA | MALAYSIA | 41 |
| ODA | MALDIVES | 7 |
| ODA | MALI | Fewer than 5 |
| ODA | MAURITANIA | 5 |
| ODA | MAURITIUS | 7 |
| ODA | MEXICO | 34 |
| ODA | MOLDOVA | 6 |
| ODA | MONGOLIA | 17 |
| ODA | MONTENEGRO | 7 |
| ODA | MOROCCO | 11 |
| ODA | MOZAMBIQUE | 15 |
| ODA | MYANMAR | 11 |
| ODA | NAMIBIA | 14 |
| ODA | NEPAL | 11 |
| ODA | NIGER | Fewer than 5 |
| ODA | NIGERIA | 39 |
| ODA | NORTH MACEDONIA | 6 |
| ODA | OVERSEAS TERRITORIES | 12 |
| ODA | PACIFIC POOL | 32 |
| ODA | PAKISTAN (DOES NOT INCLUDE FELLOWS) | 46 |
| ODA | PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES | 11 |
| ODA | PANAMA | 5 |
| ODA | PARAGUAY | 17 |
| ODA | PERU | 11 |
| ODA | PHILIPPINES | 23 |
| ODA | RWANDA | 8 |
| ODA | SAMOA + COOK ISLANDS | Fewer than 5 |
| ODA | SENEGAL / CAPE VERDE /GUINEA-BISSAU | 8 |
| ODA | SERBIA | 7 |
| ODA | SIERRA LEONE | 6 |
| ODA | SOMALIA | 17 |
| ODA | SOUTH AFRICA | 47 |
| ODA | SOUTH SUDAN | 6 |
| ODA | SRI LANKA | 10 |
| ODA | SUDAN | 14 |
| ODA | SYRIA | 15 |
| ODA | TAJIKISTAN | Fewer than 5 |
| ODA | TANZANIA | 17 |
| ODA | THAILAND | 24 |
| ODA | TUNISIA | 6 |
| ODA | TURKEY | 20 |
| ODA | TURKMENISTAN | 6 |
| ODA | UGANDA | 21 |
| ODA | UKRAINE | 37 |
| ODA | UZBEKISTAN | 7 |
| ODA | VENEZUELA | 7 |
| ODA | VIETNAM | 23 |
| ODA | YEMEN | 9 |
| ODA | ZAMBIA | 11 |
| ODA | ZIMBABWE | 7 |
| Non-ODA | AUSTRALIA | Fewer than 5 |
| Non-ODA | BAHAMAS | Fewer than 5 |
| Non-ODA | BARBADOS (+ ST KITTS AND NEVIS) | Fewer than 5 |
| Non-ODA | BRUNEI | Fewer than 5 |
| Non-ODA | CANADA | Fewer than 5 |
| Non-ODA | CHILE | Fewer than 5 |
| Non-ODA | HONG KONG | Fewer than 5 |
| Non-ODA | ICELAND | Fewer than 5 |
| Non-ODA | ISRAEL | Fewer than 5 |
| Non-ODA | JAPAN | Fewer than 5 |
| Non-ODA | NEW ZEALAND | Fewer than 5 |
| Non-ODA | SEYCHELLES | Fewer than 5 |
| Non-ODA | SINGAPORE | 5 |
| Non-ODA | SOUTH KOREA | Fewer than 5 |
| Non-ODA | TAIWAN | 5 |
| Non-ODA | TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO | Fewer than 5 |
| Non-ODA | URUGUAY | 10 |
| 1350 |
Asked by: Lord Grocott (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government who are the Trade Envoys; to which country each Trade Envoy has been assigned; and what is the party affiliation of each Trade Envoy and the length of time in post.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Lainston - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
There are currently 36 Prime Minister’s Trade Envoys and information as below.
Country | Trade Envoy | Date of PM Appointment | ||
LATIN AMERICA & THE CARIBBEAN | ||||
Colombia, Chile, Peru, Argentina | Mark Menzies MP (Con) | September 2016 & September 2017 for Argentina | ||
Panama, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica | Baroness Hooper of Liverpool (Con) | October 2020 | ||
Brazil | Marco Longhi MP (Con) | August 2021 | ||
AFRICA | ||||
Algeria | Lord Risby of Haverhill (Con) | November 2012 | ||
Uganda & Rwanda (watching brief for DRC) | Lord Popat (Con) | January 2016 | ||
Egypt and Cameroon | Sir Jeffrey Donaldson MP (DUP) | January 2016 & August 2021 for Cameroon | ||
Nigeria | Helen Grant MP (Con) | October 2020 | ||
Kenya | Theo Clarke MP (Con) | Reappointed May 2023 | ||
South Africa & Mauritius | Andrew Selous MP(Con) | September 2017 & January 2023 for Mauritius | ||
Tanzania | Lord Walney (Non-Affiliated) | August 2021 | ||
Ghana | Baroness Hoey (Non-Affiliated) | August 2021 | ||
Tunisia & Libya | Yvonne Fovargue MP (Lab) | March 2022 | ||
Angola, Zambia & Ethiopia | Laurence Robertson MP (Con) | Reappointed March 2023 | ||
MIDDLE EAST | ||||
Israel | Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated) | October 2020 | ||
Iran | Lord Lamont of Lerwick (Con) | January 2016 | ||
Lebanon | Lord Risby of Haverhill (Con) | August 2019 | ||
Iraq | Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne (Con) | January 2014 | ||
Jordan, Kuwait & Palestine Territories | Baroness Morris of Bolton (Con) | November 2012 | ||
UAE | Gareth Thompson MP (Con) | March 2023 | ||
| ||||
Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan | Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne (Con) | April 2016 & Kazakhstan July 2017 | ||
Mongolia | Daniel Kawczynski MP (Con) | October 2020 | ||
Ukraine | Baroness Meyer (Con) | October 2020 | ||
Turkey | Lord Hutton (Lab) | May 2022 | ||
EUROPE | ||||
Switzerland & Liechtenstein | Sir Stephen Timms MP (Lab) | August 2021 | ||
Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia) | Martin Vickers MP (Con) | October 2020 | ||
APAC | ||||
Australia | Lord Botham (Crossbench) | August 2021 | ||
Taiwan | Lord Faulkner (Lab) | January 2016 | ||
Japan | Greg Clark MP (Con) | May 2022 | ||
Thailand, Myanmar, Brunei & Vietnam | Mark Garnier MP (Con) | October 2020 & for Vietnam January 2023 | ||
Singapore | Lord Sarfraz (Con) | January 2022 | ||
Republic of Korea | Sir John Whittingdale (Con) | May 2022 | ||
Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines & ASEAN | Richard Graham MP (Con) | Reappointed March 2023 | ||
Cambodia & Laos | Heather Wheeler MP (Con) | Reappointed March 2023 | ||
New Zealand | David Mundell MP (Con) | Reappointed March 2023 | ||
SOUTH ASIA | ||||
Bangladesh | Rushanara Ali MP (Lab) | March 2016 | ||
Sri Lanka | Lord Mervyn Davies of Abersoch (Crossbench) | October 2020 | ||
North America | ||||
Canada | Dame Maria Miller MP (Con) | May 2022 | ||
USA (specific focus on driving trade promotion with existing MOU states) | Sir Conor Burns MP (Con) | May 2023 | ||
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department is considering making any financial contribution to the proposed Industrial Park in the Banteng Region of Indonesia.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The FCDO is not planning to make a financial contribution to the proposed Industrial Park in the Banteng Region of Indonesia. There is great potential to increase trade and investment flows between the UK and Indonesian as set out in the UK-Indonesia Partnership Roadmap which was launched in April 2022. In February 2022, I [Minister Trevelyan] visited Indonesia as Secretary of State for International Trade to hold the first UK-Indonesia Joint Economic Trade Committee (JETCO) in support of achieving our joint ambition for our future trade relationship.
Asked by: Cat Smith (Labour - Lancaster and Fleetwood)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to his Department’s publication of government procurement card spending over £500, for how many (a) nights and (b) individuals was (i) £532.16 spent at The Capital Menlyn, Pretoria, on 5 October 2022; (ii) £577.18 spent at the Melia Bali, Indonesia, on 2 November 2022; and (iii) £547.15 spent at The Hotel Palace, Berlin, on 19 December 2022; and on each occasion, for what purpose was that accommodation required.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
The spends made between 5 October 2022 and 19 December 2022 were related to COP26 events. The team that incurred these costs has now been disbanded. To provide this information would exceed the threshold and incur a disproportionate cost to the Cabinet Office.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
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 Indonesian counterpart on the steps the Indonesian Government is taking to (a) engage with Indonesian indigenous peoples’ organisations and (b) ensure indigenous peoples’ participation in future agreements on the implementation of the bilateral agreement on sustainable forest management between the UK and Indonesia signed in October 2022.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has supported the protection of customary forest areas in Indonesia through the UK-aid funded SETAPAK programme. The programme has supported indigenous peoples' groups to work with government to enhance legal protection of their customary land and to engage in participatory mapping. Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park has been discussing the Indonesia-UK Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) concerning cooperation on Indonesia's Forestry and Other Land Use Net Sink 2030 with the Indonesian Government for several months. This includes how our cooperation can support positive outcomes for all Indonesian people, as well as for the participants and mechanisms set out in on the MoU, including the Joint Consultative Working Group.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the memorandum of understanding between the UK and Indonesia on sustainable forest management, signed in October 2022, in what way that agreement will help increase protection of customary forest areas and strengthen forest management by customary law communities.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has supported the protection of customary forest areas in Indonesia through the UK-aid funded SETAPAK programme. The programme has supported indigenous peoples' groups to work with government to enhance legal protection of their customary land and to engage in participatory mapping. Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park has been discussing the Indonesia-UK Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) concerning cooperation on Indonesia's Forestry and Other Land Use Net Sink 2030 with the Indonesian Government for several months. This includes how our cooperation can support positive outcomes for all Indonesian people, as well as for the participants and mechanisms set out in on the MoU, including the Joint Consultative Working Group.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds North West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether indigenous peoples’ organisations in Indonesia will be part of the planned Joint Consultative Working Group and a Joint Technical Working Group developing agreements related to the bilateral agreement between the UK and Indonesia on sustainable forest management.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has supported the protection of customary forest areas in Indonesia through the UK-aid funded SETAPAK programme. The programme has supported indigenous peoples' groups to work with government to enhance legal protection of their customary land and to engage in participatory mapping. Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park has been discussing the Indonesia-UK Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) concerning cooperation on Indonesia's Forestry and Other Land Use Net Sink 2030 with the Indonesian Government for several months. This includes how our cooperation can support positive outcomes for all Indonesian people, as well as for the participants and mechanisms set out in on the MoU, including the Joint Consultative Working Group.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to her Department's data entitled DIT's ePCS spending over £500 for November 2022, for what purpose her Department spent £3,265.60 for a hotel on 3 November 2022.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The hotel expenditure relates to 10 nights (29 October – 07 November 2022) accommodation for Director UK Defence and Security Exports (UKDSE), and four UKDSE members of staff who supported Director UKDSE during his engagements at Indo Defence 2022 in Indonesia.