Written questions by Cooper.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to assist British nationals who have overstayed their visas abroad, particularly in countries where the process for obtaining exit permits is complex.

Each country is responsible for their own immigration rules and we cannot interfere in their policies or procedures. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) Travel Advice provides up to date information on the most common entry and exit requirements, with further guidance published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/support-for-british-nationals-abroad. When appropriate, the FCDO will signpost British nationals to local authorities to help resolve any immigration issues.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what her long-term plans are for the Independent Commission for Aid Impact, particularly in relation to its mandate and resourcing.

In relation to all the questions raised by the Hon Member on 28 January, I refer her to Baroness Chapman's appearance before the International Development Committee on 20 January, where she addressed these issues at length. We will set out any further plans in this area in the context of Official Development Assistance funding allocations up to 2028-29, decisions on which will be announced in the coming months.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to maintain public confidence in the value for money and accountability of UK aid spending.

In relation to all the questions raised by the Hon Member on 28 January, I refer her to Baroness Chapman's appearance before the International Development Committee on 20 January, where she addressed these issues at length. We will set out any further plans in this area in the context of Official Development Assistance funding allocations up to 2028-29, decisions on which will be announced in the coming months.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to support the independent scrutiny of Official Development Assistance.

In relation to all the questions raised by the Hon Member on 28 January, I refer her to Baroness Chapman's appearance before the International Development Committee on 20 January, where she addressed these issues at length. We will set out any further plans in this area in the context of Official Development Assistance funding allocations up to 2028-29, decisions on which will be announced in the coming months.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of independent scrutiny on value for money across the aid programme.

In relation to all the questions raised by the Hon Member on 28 January, I refer her to Baroness Chapman's appearance before the International Development Committee on 20 January, where she addressed these issues at length. We will set out any further plans in this area in the context of Official Development Assistance funding allocations up to 2028-29, decisions on which will be announced in the coming months.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to help facilitate independent scrutiny of Official Development Assistance across Government departments.

In relation to all the questions raised by the Hon Member on 28 January, I refer her to Baroness Chapman's appearance before the International Development Committee on 20 January, where she addressed these issues at length. We will set out any further plans in this area in the context of Official Development Assistance funding allocations up to 2028-29, decisions on which will be announced in the coming months.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when she plans to announce Official Development Assistance allocations.

We are working through detailed decisions on how the Official Development Assistance budget will be used from 2026/27 to 2028/29, informed by internal and external consultation and impact assessments. We plan to publish indicative allocations for the next three years in the coming months.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with relevant stakeholders on Official Development Assistance allocations.

We are working through detailed decisions on how the Official Development Assistance budget will be used from 2026/27 to 2028/29, informed by internal and external consultation and impact assessments. We plan to publish indicative allocations for the next three years in the coming months.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support water and sanitation projects through Official Development Assistance.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided on 17 September to question 75697. Further to the answer given, the latest consolidated Statistics for International Development, published in September 2025, shows that UK bilateral Official Development Assistance spent on water, sanitation and hygiene totalled £80 million in the 2024 calendar year.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what (a) steps he is planning to take to take to strengthen antimicrobial resistance (i) surveillance and (ii) diagnostic capacity following the conclusion of the Fleming Fund programme and (b) support his Department is providing to help laboratories maintain continuity of services while national governments build long-term capacity.

Tackling Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) is a priority for the UK Government, and is vital also for protecting our NHS. The UK played a key role in securing an action-oriented Political Declaration from the UN High Level Meeting on AMR last September, including on the importance of strengthening multisectoral surveillance. The UK is working with our partners to drive robust implementation of the commitments from the Political Declaration. Regarding specific UK funding, we are currently working through detailed decisions on how the Official Development Assistance budget will be used in future years, informed by internal and external consultation and impact assessments, ahead of publishing indicative multi-year allocations in the autumn.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what funding his Department plans to allocate (a) to international programmes primarily focused on preventing novel pandemics at source and (b) through multilateral and bilateral initiatives where pandemic preparedness is a secondary or cross-cutting objective from 2025 to 2028.

We will publish Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's final 2025/26 Official Development Assistance (ODA) programme allocations in the Annual Report & Accounts in July. Over the coming months, we will work through detailed decisions on how the ODA budget will be used in future years, informed by internal and external consultation and impact assessments, ahead of publishing indicative multi-year allocations in the autumn. We continue to work across Government and with our international partners to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that global development and health partnerships remain central to foreign policy objectives.

Work on international development, including global health, remains a priority for this Department. The Minister of State for International Development made this clear at the International Development Committee hearing on 12 May 2025, we will sharpen our focus on humanitarian, health and climate and nature. Making progress on our health and development agenda not only supports our broader foreign policy objectives but also contributes to the Government's health and economic growth missions.At the UK-EU summit on 19 May, we affirmed our shared commitment to increasing our cooperation on health security, including to prevent and better mitigate against future pandemics and health crises. Later this year, the UK will co-host the replenishment of the Global Fund with South Africa.At the Gavi Global Summit in Brussels on 25 June 2025 the Foreign Secretary announced that the UK will invest an additional £1.25 billion in support of Gavi's 2026 - 2030 programme. This commitment, alongside contributions from international partners, will help deliver Gavi to partner with countries such as yours to immunise up to 500 million more children, save up to 9 million more lives, and generate over $100 billion in economic benefits. The Minister of State for International Development also announced the UK will be investing a further £25 million in Gavi's Matching Fund to grow their work. Meeting investments from the private sector.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the 6.9% reduction in the FCDO's resource budget on the ability to respond to global health threats.

Over the coming months, we will work through detailed decisions on how the Official Development Assistance budget will be used in future years, informed by internal and external consultation and impact assessments.The Minister for Development was delighted to attend the Gavi Global Summit in Brussels on 25 June 2025 and announce that the UK will invest an additional £1.25 billion in support of Gavi's 2026 - 2030 programme. This commitment, alongside contributions from international partners, will help deliver Gavi to partner with countries such as yours to immunise up to 500 million more children, save up to 9 million more lives, and generate over $100 billion in economic benefits.The UK's commitment to supporting both humanitarian aid and development across the world remains steadfast, despite the reduction to the UK's aid budget. We continue to work across Government and with international partners to deliver on our global health agenda, including how we best mitigate the risks of a range of global health threats. The UK's role in helping secure consensus in May this year on a legally-binding Pandemic Agreement underlines our commitment to tackling these threats.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make it his policy to support (a) low and (b) middle income countries issuing compulsory licenses for the HIV prevention tool lenacapavir.

Lenacapavir could play a critical role in the global fight against HIV but only when it is available and affordable in countries that need it. We strongly supported Unitaid's decision to invest £17 million to accelerate access to Lenacapavir through market-shaping grants.As Lord Collins stated in Parliament on 18 November at the HIV APPG roundtable, we welcome Gilead's bilateral voluntary licensing agreements with six generic manufacturers to make and sell generic Lenacapavir in 120 resource-limited countries, and their commitment to provide Lenacapavir at non-profit pricing in sub-Saharan Africa.In combination with our market-shaping interventions, this will help accelerate access to this potentially groundbreaking tool.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will prioritise global health spending in the Overseas Development Assistance budget in (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2025-26.

The UK is a leader on global health and one of the largest providers of Official Development Assistance (ODA) for health, including to organisations like Gavi, helping to vaccinate one billion children, and through the Global Fund, which has cut the global death rate from HIV, malaria and TB by 50 per cent, and as the largest flexible funder of the World Health Organization.In 2024/25, we are prioritising predictability and stability after years of turbulence under the previous Government. We will publish the FCDO's ODA programme allocations for 2024/25 shortly. We are considering how to allocate our ODA programme budget for 2025/26 to lay the foundations for our ODA spending in future years; the allocations will be published in due course.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps he is taking to help protect Edmundo Gonzalez, leader of the Venezuelan democratic opposition.

It is completely unacceptable that the Maduro regime forced Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez into exile and issued a warrant for his arrest. Baroness Chapman of Darlington publicly condemned the arrest warrant on 4 September. The Foreign Secretary has also spoken out against these reprehensible actions. I am grateful that Spain has been able to provide safety and asylum to Edmundo Gonzalez and he is now able to continue to speak out for the democratic will of the Venezuelan people. The UK continues to work with international partners to achieve a peaceful solution in Venezuela. Dialogue remains the only solution.