Every parliamentary written question tabled by James Cleverly this session, with the full answer and department. Back to the MP page.
Showing 1–20 of 29 · Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the UK Politics, Governance and Rights Centre provides guidance or assistance to foreign countries in relation to the practices of holding elections, and the frequency at which local elections should be held.
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 17 December 2024 to Question 19695.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions has the department had with the Venice Commission on elections since July 2024.
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 17 December 2024 to Question 19695.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961, what discussions he has had with his Chinese counterparts on ensuring authorisation for UK contractors to access the British Embassy in Beijing to undertake repair and maintenance work.
UK contractors routinely visit our overseas missions around the world, including in China, to carry out maintenance and repairs. We have not had cause to raise this with the Chinese authorities.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much Official Development Assistance was allocated to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in each of the last five financial years.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) plays a vital role in delivering humanitarian assistance in Gaza and enabling the broader international response through its logistics and distribution network. Figures for the UK Funding to UNRWA for the last five financial years can be found below. The decrease in funding from the Financial Year 2020/21 to Financial Year 2021/22 was due to the move from 0.7 per cent to 0.5 per cent Official Development Assistance.Financial YearTotal Funding2024/25£41,000,0002023/24£35,000,0002022/23£18,700,0002021/22£15,920,0002020/21£63,685,574
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to monitor the effectiveness of Official Development Assistance provided to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.
We continue to assess all overseas development assistance robustly against government priorities. In line with standard practice, the UK conducts an Annual Review of UK funding to The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East to assess performance in key areas including service delivery and reforms. All annual reviews are published on DevTracker.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of reductions in Official Development Assistance on the operations of the World Food Programme.
The Minister for Development met Cindy McCain, Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), during her recent trip to Paris, and recognises the important work of the WFP. Decisions on how the Official Development Assistance budget will be used will be worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review, based on various factors including impact assessments.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact in changes to Official Development Assistance provided to Jordan on regional stability.
The UK's Official Development Assistance (ODA) supports Jordan's transition towards economic self-sufficiency, helps reduce the drivers of migration and has supported Jordan as it delivered humanitarian assistance to Gaza. The Minister for International Development made Jordan her first official visit overseas in her new role from 23-25 March. She announced that UK funding for the Global Concessional Financing Facility will support Jordan's efforts to host its 3.5 million refugee population. Reducing the overall size of our ODA budget will necessarily have an impact on the scale and shape of the work we do globally. Decisions on how the ODA budget will be used will be worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review and resource allocation processes, based on various factors including impact assessments.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much Official Development Assistance was allocated to the World Food Programme in each of the last five financial years.
Headline Measure of ODA to WFP:YearODA (£1,000s)2019512,4972020484,0312021205,7292022207,8772023172,325The Statistics on International Development (SID) National Statistics report, published on the gov.uk website, provides an overview of all official UK spend on Official Development Assistance (ODA). ODA is an international measure and is collected and reported on a calendar year basis. Final UK ODA figures for 2024 will be published in Autumn 2025, via Statistics on International Development: Final UK Aid Spend 2024.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of reductions in Official Development Assistance on the humanitarian response capability of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.
As the Prime Minister stated, the UK will continue to play a key humanitarian role in Gaza. We cannot yet confirm funding allocations for financial year 2025-26, but continue to assess all overseas development assistance robustly against government priorities. The UK provided £41 million in financial year 2024/25 for United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). This supports delivery of UNRWA's vital work, ensuring that Palestinians have access to humanitarian assistance, education and healthcare in Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the region.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of reductions in Official Development Assistance on UNICEF’s ability to deliver services to vulnerable children.
The United Nations Children's Fund remains a key partner for delivery of the Foreign Secretary's priorities such as education, health, and humanitarian, including Gaza, Ukraine, and Sudan. Decisions on how the Official Development Assistance budget will be used will be worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review, based on various factors including impact assessments.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of changes in Official Development Assistance funding on UNICEF programmes supported by the UK.
The United Nations Children's Fund remains a key partner for delivery of the Foreign Secretary's priorities such as education, health, and humanitarian, including Gaza, Ukraine, and Sudan. Decisions on how the Official Development Assistance budget will be used will be worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review, based on various factors including impact assessments.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of reductions in Official Development Assistance on UK strategic interests in the Middle East.
Decisions on how the Official Development Assistance budget will be used will be worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review and resource allocation processes, based on various factors including impact assessments. Parliament will be informed of the bilateral country budget allocations in the normal way when the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Annual Report and accounts are laid before Parliament. The Middle East remains vital to achieving our priorities which include preventing further conflict, supporting stability, and lifting vulnerable people out of crisis, and the UK continues to be a trusted and reliable partner across the region.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much Official Development Assistance was allocated to UNICEF in each of the last five financial years.
Based on the most recent "Statistics on International Development" publications, the total amount of UK Official Development Assistance allocated to the United Nations Children's Fund is as follows:YearAmount2023£351,078,0002022£210,240,0002021£225,541,0002020£460,739,0002019£477,217,000
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the reduction in Overseas Development Assistance on the Commonwealth realms; and what steps he is taking to help mitigate that impact.
The Prime Minister has set out a new strategic vision for government spending on defence and security and Official Development Assistance (ODA). Detailed decisions on how the ODA budget will be used will be worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review based on various factors including impact assessments.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the reduction in Overseas Development Assistance on the Overseas Territories; and what steps he is taking to help mitigate that impact.
The UK Government remains committed to supporting the Overseas Territories, and is funding programmes to increase long term capacity and capability in the Overseas Territories in receipt of Official Development Assistance (ODA). The Prime Minister has set out a new strategic vision for government spending on defence and security and ODA. We will set out our spending plans following the completion of the Spending Review and departmental resource allocation processes.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if his Department will release a full impact assessment for the reduction in Official Development Assistance.
The Prime Minister has set out a new strategic vision for government spending on defence and security, and Official Development Assistance (ODA). Detailed decisions on how the ODA budget will be used will be worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review on the basis of various factors including impact assessments.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the projected level of overseas development aid (ODA) expenditure on asylum accommodation is over the next three years; and whether he plans to ring-fence the amount of ODA available for that purpose.
The Government is committed to ensuring that asylum costs fall and has already acted. The Government has taken measures to reduce the asylum backlog, reform the asylum accommodation system to end the use of expensive accommodation in the next Spending Review (SR) period and increase detention capacity to facilitate more asylum removals.Whilst there will always be volatility in asylum forecasts, we expect these decisions to drive down overall in-donor refugee costs over the next SR.All UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) spending is consistent with the international rules agreed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD's) Development Assistance Committee. This includes ODA spent on in-donor refugee costs.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the reduction in overseas development assistance on the UK’s (a) shareholding and (b) board membership of the World Bank.
The UK's shareholding at the World Bank is based on our paid in capital. We do not anticipate any reduction in our shareholding or any changes to our board representation as a result of the decision to reduce UK aid spending.Detailed decisions on how the Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget will be used will be worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review on the basis of various factors including impact assessments. We will set out spending plans following the completion of the Spending Review and departmental resource allocation processes.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will spend 80 percent of Official Development Assistance on women and girls.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is committed to putting women and girls at the heart of everything we do. We continue to work towards our target of at least 80 percent of the FCDO's bilateral aid programmes having a focus on gender equality by 2030. This commitment is measured by the proportion of programmes, rather than by spend, since this reflects our ambition for gender to be mainstreamed across all FCDO programmes.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when he plans to restore Official Development Assistance to 0.7 percent of gross national income.
The Government remains committed to returning to spending 0.7% of Gross National Income (GNI) on Official Development Assistance (ODA) when fiscal circumstances allow, in line with the International Development Act 2015. Reducing ODA now is a difficult but necessary decision to respond to the pressing security challenges.The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR's) latest forecast shows that the ODA fiscal tests are not due to be met within the Parliament. The government will continue to monitor future forecasts closely, and each year will review and confirm, in accordance with the International Development (Official Development Assistance Target) Act 2015, whether a return to spending 0.7% GNI on ODA is possible against the latest fiscal forecast.