Written questions by Ballinger.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether Mr Ameer Kotecha was given a leave of absence from her Department to (a) run the Platinum Pudding Competition and (b) write the Platinum Cookbook.

There is no record of Mr Kotecha being granted a period of unpaid leave during his employment with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). His work on producing the cookbook and running the pudding competition over the course of 2021-22 was carried out in tandem with his preparations to take up a new post at the consulate in Ekaterinburg.The FCDO did not hold any staff events on Sunday 15 August 2021, the day that the Taliban captured Kabul. The event to which Mr Kotecha has referred took place on Wednesday 15 September 2021, a month after the fall of Kabul, and almost three weeks after the UK's final evacuation flight from Afghanistan. It was a lunchtime panel discussion organised by the Civil Service Race Forum panel, and held online for staff networks across Whitehall. The FCDO had no involvement in its organisation, and no FCDO staff were featured on the panel.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether an event was held within her Department to mark World Afro Day in August 2021.

There is no record of Mr Kotecha being granted a period of unpaid leave during his employment with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). His work on producing the cookbook and running the pudding competition over the course of 2021-22 was carried out in tandem with his preparations to take up a new post at the consulate in Ekaterinburg.The FCDO did not hold any staff events on Sunday 15 August 2021, the day that the Taliban captured Kabul. The event to which Mr Kotecha has referred took place on Wednesday 15 September 2021, a month after the fall of Kabul, and almost three weeks after the UK's final evacuation flight from Afghanistan. It was a lunchtime panel discussion organised by the Civil Service Race Forum panel, and held online for staff networks across Whitehall. The FCDO had no involvement in its organisation, and no FCDO staff were featured on the panel.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to her Department's press release entitled New international coalition launched to end violence against women and girls globally, published on 2 December 2025, how much and what proportion of that Integrated Security Fund package has been allocated to meet her commitments on tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG); and what assessment her Department has made of the national security and domestic resilience implications of potential changes in international VAWG and gender based violence programming.

The Integrated Security Fund-supported Gender and National Security portfolio has a total budget of £4.85 million in 2025/26, of which approximately £1.6 million (33 per cent) is targeted specifically to tackling Violence against Women and Girls.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of changes in gender and conflict advisory capacity on the ability of the Integrated Security Fund to mainstream Women, Peace and Security and conflict sensitivity; and who is accountable for delivery of that mainstreaming across portfolio boards.

The Integrated Security Fund-supported Gender and National Security portfolio has a total budget of £4.85 million in 2025/26, of which approximately £1.6 million (33 per cent) is targeted specifically to tackling Violence against Women and Girls.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the (a) effectiveness and (b) value for money of (i) Official Development Assistance allocations to peacekeeping and multilateral commitments and (ii) and bilateral or locally-led conflict prevention and stabilisation programmes in contexts of weak governance.

The Department assesses the effectiveness and value for money of UK-funded projects in the areas mentioned through its business case process, quarterly progress reports, annual reviews and Project Completion Reviews, including checks on financial performance, risk management and delivery against agreed objectives. Programme Responsible Owners within the Department apply the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's Programme Operating Framework to monitor progress, using tools such as risk registers, results frameworks and value-for-money assessments throughout the project lifecycle.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the projected level of loss of UK soft power in the Western Balkans in the next five years.

Last year, the Government invested over £31 million in programmes in the Western Balkans, supporting women and girls, protecting democratic values, and enhancing resilience to hostile state influences, including funding for counter-disinformation and cyber defence support. We will set out details of future funding allocations in the coming months, we continue to be committed to pursuing a wide range of objectives in partnerships across the region focussed on stability, security, and prosperity among other issues.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has made a recent assessment of the effectiveness of the Migration and Conflict Directorate in (a) preventing and (b) reducing conflict in priority contexts; what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of that Directorate in providing analysing to the (a) UK Integrated Security Fund and (b) other programmes.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided on 11 July 2025 to Question 64725.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has considered dissolving her Department's Migration and Conflict Directorate.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided on 11 July 2025 to Question 64725.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much foreign aid she plans to grant to Yemen for the 2026-27 fiscal year.

Specific funding allocations in future years for individual programmes and countries will be confirmed in the usual way in due course.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much official development assistance funding she plans to provide to Yemen in each of the next five years.

Specific funding allocations in future years for individual programmes and countries will be confirmed in the usual way in due course.