Every parliamentary written question tabled by Rupert Lowe this session, with the full answer and department. Back to the MP page.
Showing 1–20 of 57 · Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many nights were spent in hotels by Departmental staff in financial year 2024-25 by the star rating of the hotel.
The requested information is not centrally collated by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many people who married members of the so-called Islamic State have been repatriated to the UK from Syria.
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 6 February 2025 in response to Question 27530.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many civil servants employed by their Department work in roles primarily focused on (a) transgender policy, (b) diversity, (c) equity and (d) inclusion; and at what annual salary cost.
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 13 November in response to Question 88798.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the cost to the public purse was of feasibility studies conducted by their Department for projects that did not proceed in the last five years.
Data on feasibility studies specifically for projects that did not proceed is not tracked individually. Isolating this would require manual review of large volumes of data, making it impractical to extract reliably without disproportionate effort and cost.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, for the total spend on (i) LinkedIn membership fees (ii) other subscriptions by her Department in the last financial year.
The requested information is not centrally collated by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. All spending is subject to standard value for money assessments.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many staff in their Department have been on mental health leave for six months or more; and for what reason.
The Civil Service publishes sickness absence statistics by organisation and by sickness reason, including mental ill-health. These figures are available in the publicly accessible Civil Service sickness absence reports on GOV.UK (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/sickness-absence). The next release of these statistics is scheduled for 18 December, and you may wish to refer to this forthcoming publication for the most up-to-date information.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department has visibility over donations or grants from U.S. government agencies or foundations to (a) BBC Media Action and (b) the BBC World Service Trust since 2018.
The information requested is not held by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether U.S. officials have (a) participated in and (b) been consulted on UK–Mauritius negotiations regarding the Chagos Islands and Diego Garcia since 2022.
As I stated in the House of Commons on 2 September, the UK-Mauritius treaty was tested at the highest levels of the United States' security establishment, across multiple agencies. The agreement has been backed by our key allies and international partners, including the US and all our Five Eyes partners.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much her Department has spent on social media advertising by (a) influencer and (b) organisation in each of the last five financial years.
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 28 October to Question 83336. All spending is subject to standard value for money assessments.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, which UK-registered (a) non-Governmental organisations, (b) charities and (c) UN agencies have received more than £10 million in funding for projects involving (i) norm change, (ii) gender ideology and (iii) climate justice since 2021.
Since 2021, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has used the Programme Operating Framework (PrOF) to guide decisions on how UK foreign aid is spent effectively. The PrOF sets out mandatory rules and principles to ensure programmes align with strategic priorities, deliver measurable impact, and represent value for money. The latest edition of the PrOF is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fcdo-programme-operating-framework/fcdo-programme-operating-framework-overview.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department undertakes (a) risk and (b) equality impact assessments on aid projects whose stated objectives include (i) influencing norms and (ii) gender ideology.
Since 2021, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has used the Programme Operating Framework (PrOF) to guide decisions on how UK foreign aid is spent effectively. The PrOF sets out mandatory rules and principles to ensure programmes align with strategic priorities, deliver measurable impact, and represent value for money. The latest edition of the PrOF is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fcdo-programme-operating-framework/fcdo-programme-operating-framework-overview.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, for what strategic reasons aid is used to fund projects described as aiming to (a) influence social norms and (b) achieve social transformation overseas.
Since 2021, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has used the Programme Operating Framework (PrOF) to guide decisions on how UK foreign aid is spent effectively. The PrOF sets out mandatory rules and principles to ensure programmes align with strategic priorities, deliver measurable impact, and represent value for money. The latest edition of the PrOF is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fcdo-programme-operating-framework/fcdo-programme-operating-framework-overview.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will take steps to ensure that overseas aid funding is not used to promote (a) social transformation, (b) gender ideology, (c) climate justice and (d) other ideological or political objectives.
Since 2021, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has used the Programme Operating Framework (PrOF) to guide decisions on how UK foreign aid is spent effectively. The PrOF sets out mandatory rules and principles to ensure programmes align with strategic priorities, deliver measurable impact, and represent value for money. The latest edition of the PrOF is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fcdo-programme-operating-framework/fcdo-programme-operating-framework-overview.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much overseas aid funding has been allocated to projects or programmes aimed at promoting (a) climate justice, (b) social transformation and (c) norm change since 2021.
Since 2021, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has used the Programme Operating Framework (PrOF) to guide decisions on how UK foreign aid is spent effectively. The PrOF sets out mandatory rules and principles to ensure programmes align with strategic priorities, deliver measurable impact, and represent value for money. The latest edition of the PrOF is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fcdo-programme-operating-framework/fcdo-programme-operating-framework-overview.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of forming an international alliance to coordinate sanctions on countries that refuse to cooperate on the returns.
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer he was provided on 31st January 2025 to question 26186.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the projected cost to the public purse is of Chevening scholarships awarded to students from Gaza for 2025-26.
All costs will be covered under the normal Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Chevening Scholarship Programme.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many employees in his Department earn (a) £100,000 and (b) £166,000 or more per year.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) can confirm that this information is held within our published Annual Report and Accounts for 2024-2025 (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/687e39109914d1f63267c5e5/FCDO-Annual-Report-and-Accounts-2024-2025.pdf), the relevant Report pages 128 to 133, and the FCDO Organograms of Staff Roles and Salaries (https://www.data.gov.uk/dataset/73e0260a-0516-44ff-b4eb-ba9fec420c45/fcdo-organograms).
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what proportion of his Department's procurement contracts were awarded to British companies in the last financial year.
Based on available data, in the financial year 2024-25, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) centrally awarded a total of 558 commercial contracts. Of these, 277 contracts-representing approximately 49.6 per cent of awarded contracts-were awarded to companies with their head office registered in the United Kingdom.The FCDO ensures that its contracts are tendered in accordance with UK procurement legislation, promoting open and fair competition, following a set of standard processes designed to ensure transparency, value for money, and equal opportunity for suppliers.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much his Department has spent on (a) social media promotions, (b) influencer marketing and (c) online advertising in the last 12 months.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office combines all Advertising & Publicity costs in its financial reporting system. The information required to delineate between social media promotions, influencer marketing and online advertising is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much their Department has spent on (a) translation and (b) interpretation for languages other than (i) British Sign Language and (ii) languages native to the UK for people contacting (A) their Department and (B) its agencies in 2025.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spent around £215,000 on direct, external Interpreter and Translator costs, for the financial year 2024-25. Indirect Interpreter and Translator costs (for example, staff time, particularly where translation or interpreter type activities is not their primary role) are not included in this figure.The information required to delineate between Interpreter and Translator spend, as well as to which language spend pertains, is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.