Written questions by Gethins.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his international counterparts on helping to ensure the warring parties in Sudan comply with (a) the Jeddah Declaration and (b) their obligations under international humanitarian law.

The Foreign Secretary has engaged with international partners on the importance of holding the warring parties accountable to international humanitarian law and the commitments they made in Jeddah to allow humanitarian access and ensure the protection of civilians. As penholder at the UN Security Council and leader of the Core Group on Sudan at the UN Human Rights Council, the UK has consistently condemned reported international humanitarian and human rights law violations. The UK Special Representative to Sudan, Richard Crowder, pressed for a resolution to the conflict and for all parties to comply with the Jeddah Declaration when he visited Port Sudan in December - the UK's first official visit to the country since the outbreak of conflict in April 2023. In November 2024, the UK co-led a protection of civilians resolution at the UN Security Council with Sierra Leone, which called on parties to the conflict to adhere to their obligations under international humanitarian law and for compliance with the Jeddah Declaration. This received unanimous Council support, apart from Russia who chose to veto it.

Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to provide support to homeowners impacted by reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete.

All building owners are responsible for managing building safety and performance risks of all kinds in their buildings, including reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), in a proportionate, risk-based, and evidence-based manner. To do so, they should continue to follow guidance published by the Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE) to identify, assess, and manage RAAC.The issues with RAAC are longstanding and well known. Our current understanding, shared with the Building Safety Regulator (BSR), is that the prevalence of RAAC is low in housing and there have been no known incidents of RAAC panel failure in residential dwellings across the UK.The BSR have a duty under the Building Safety Act 2022 to keep under review the safety and standards of all buildings in England. This includes monitoring risk and advising government on any action required.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment has been made of the potential impact of Cyclone Chido on people in southern Africa.

Heavy wind and rain from Tropical Cyclone Chido have caused widespread damage in Mozambique and Malawi, and have resulted in extensive crop and infrastructure damage in parts of the region. Flooding has increased the risk of disease outbreak in a region where cholera is endemic, and cases are on the rise. Northern Mozambique was most affected by Tropical Cyclone Chido; resulting in 120 deaths, and impacting 687,000 people, many of whom are already internally displaced and affected by conflict.To support, the UK has provided £5 million to Mozambique, focusing on providing emergency shelter, clean water, sanitation needs and preparedness building. Barring heavy rain and greater flood risk, Tropical Cyclone Chido has not had a substantial impact on Northern Zambia.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of Cyclone Chido on communities in northern Zambia.

Heavy wind and rain from Tropical Cyclone Chido have caused widespread damage in Mozambique and Malawi, and have resulted in extensive crop and infrastructure damage in parts of the region. Flooding has increased the risk of disease outbreak in a region where cholera is endemic, and cases are on the rise. Northern Mozambique was most affected by Tropical Cyclone Chido; resulting in 120 deaths, and impacting 687,000 people, many of whom are already internally displaced and affected by conflict.To support, the UK has provided £5 million to Mozambique, focusing on providing emergency shelter, clean water, sanitation needs and preparedness building. Barring heavy rain and greater flood risk, Tropical Cyclone Chido has not had a substantial impact on Northern Zambia.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of reports of attacks by Israel on medical facilities in Gaza.

The UK Government remains deeply concerned about the impact of military activity on healthcare facilities in Gaza. Medical staff and facilities must be protected, and civilians should be able to safely access medical treatment. It is unacceptable that northern Gaza now has no functioning major health facilities, following strikes on the Kamal Adwan hospital. In our statement to the UN Security Council on 3 January, we dismayed at the deterioration of the healthcare situation in Gaza, and called on Israel to clarify the whereabouts of medical staff detained from hospitals in the north. I have repeatedly underlined our grave concern about these issues with Israeli counterparts, most recently on 3 January and again today 8 January.

How many export licence applications related to Ukraine are still being assessed (a) three months and (b) six months after submission.

The processing of all export licence applications to Ukraine is being prioritised by ECJU. Within that process, applications for the export of equipment organised between the UK Government and the government of Ukraine through Ministry of Defence procurement mechanisms are given the highest priority.As with all export licence applications, assessments are made on a case-by-case basis according to the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria. Assessments for Ukraine, given the situation within the country and the nature of the goods often being exported, mean these cases are some of the most complex for ECJU to process. Therefore, some can take longer to process than our public targets (to conclude 70% of standard individual export licence (SIEL) applications within 20 working days and 99% within 60 working days).The volume of live applications changes daily, but the Government release statistics on export licensing decisions and processing times regularly and these can be broken down by end destination. The most recent statistics cover the period April to June 2024 and were published on 12 December. In that period, 36 (72%) SIELs for Ukraine were responded to within 20 working days and 45 (90%) were responded to within 60 working days.

Pursuant to the Answer of 15 November 2024 to Question 13191 on Exports: Ukraine, which Departments he is waiting to receive advice on before concluding this export licence application; and what steps his Department is taking to hasten advice.

The Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU) is comprised of experts in the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and the Ministry of Defence (MOD). The FCDO advises DBT on the situation in country and the risks this poses with respect to the UK's export control responsibilities. The MOD advises DBT on the risks of diversion of exported goods and national security risks arising from hostile state activity. As the decision-making authority for all export licensing decisions DBT takes advice from both Departments and is in daily contact with them where necessary to ensure that process happens as quickly as possible. Exporters are advised in the first instance to contact the ECJU Licensing Unit, as they will be able to provide further updates on the progress of their applications and comment on any specific cases they would like to raise.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will list the meetings Ministers in his Department have had with Israeli officials since 7 December 2024.

FCDO Ministers meet with a wide range of officials, but there have been no official meetings with Israeli officials since 7 December 2024.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when the last Joint Analysis of Conflict and Stability strategic assessment was carried out on the situation in Syria.

A Joint Analysis of Conflict and Stability (JACS) strategic assessment is an OFFICIAL SENSITIVE paper that is used to underpin UK national security strategies, as well as UK government policy and programming. We do not publicly comment on the timings of specific JACS assessments.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on the conflict in Myanmar.

Since the coup in February 2021, the UK has provided more than £150 million for life-saving humanitarian assistance, healthcare, education and support for civil society and local communities in Myanmar. UK Ministers and officials work with many international partners to address the Myanmar crisis including the EU. G7 Foreign Ministers reiterated their commitment to addressing the Myanmar crisis in their November 2024 Foreign Ministers' Meeting. FCDO officials continue to coordinate with the EU on sanctions, including announcing a joint round of sanctions with Canada in October 2024 which targets the Myanmar military's access to military material, equipment and funds.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when he last had discussions with his Azerbaijani counterpart on the humanitarian situation in Nagorno Karabakh.

The UK remains in close contact with the Azerbaijani Government on a wide range of issues, including the humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh. I spoke with the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister on 31 October and discussed the situation in the region.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his department is taking to help countries disproportionately impacted by climate change implement (a) social and (b) economic adaptation measures.

Since 2011, the UK has supported over 110 million people to adapt to climate change.  We support countries to produce and implement whole-of-society national adaptation plans, have several regional programmes supporting climate-resilient economies, and fund research informing adaptation solutions. UK experts have developed financing models; after Hurricane Beryl this July, the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility paid over 76 million dollars to support their recovery. An initial investment in the Resilience and Adaptation Fund currently in development will enable vulnerable households to secure better incomes, assets, and access to food, water and productive land; building their resilience to climate change.

What her planned timetable is for responding to the recommendations of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman report into changes to women's State Pension age, published on 21 March 2024.

We are actively considering this complex matter and aim to resolve it as soon as possible.

If her Department will provide guidance for businesses on the money laundering risks of transactions (a) directly and (b) indirectly linked to Russia.

The Treasury and the Home Office hold joint responsibility for publishing a periodic national risk assessment which sets out the money laundering and terrorist financing risks in the UK. The national risk assessment provides guidance to regulated firms by informing them of risks and the jurisdictions that these risks may come from. The UK National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing 2020 provided an outline of those jurisdictions assessed to be particularly relevant to the cross-border money laundering faced by the UK. This included an assessment of the money laundering risks linked to Russia. The next UK National Risk Assessment is now underway, underpinned by a rigorous process in collaboration with law enforcement and other key stakeholders.The UK has also issued red alerts to the financial sector and other regulated sectors on specific areas of high risk relating to Russia to inform and direct their scrutiny.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of placing Russia on a domestic money laundering watchlist.

The UK’s list of high-risk third countries aligns with those countries identified by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) as having strategic deficiencies in their anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing regimes, which ensures that the identification of high-risk third countries is underpinned by the FATF’s consistent, technical methodology, and robust assessment processes. Russia is not included in either the FATF’s or UK’s list of high-risk third countries. However, regulated businesses should in practice already be taking enhanced due diligence measures in relation to Russia because the UK Money Laundering Regulations require enhanced scrutiny in situations that present a high risk of money laundering or terrorist financing, and the UK’s National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing 2020 specifically highlights the significant volume of illicit finance emanating from Russia.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help to low-income countries pursue green industrialisation pathways.

The UK Government is committed to helping low income countries pursue green industrialisation pathways by promoting inclusive and sustainable economic development, and supporting industrial decarbonisation.Examples include raising over £470 million of investment through Manufacturing Africa in Rwanda and Ethiopia, £7 million investment by British International Investment in Planet Solar, using solar power to increase Sierra Leone's power supply by 30%, and support to the Africa Green Industrialisation Initiative.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September to Question 3985 on Palestinians: Fire and Rescue Services, if he will take steps to help ensure the delivery of that donation.

The UK continues to call on Israel to increase humanitarian and commercial access into the Occupied Palestinian Territories by ensuring all aid crossings are fully operational, including the port of Ashdod. The Foreign Secretary recently spoke to Israeli Officials and raised the urgent need for a rapid increase in aid for those most in need. FCDO officials have raised the matter of this donation directly with the Israeli authorities. At a UK-chaired meeting of the UN Security Council on 12 November, Lord Collins called on Israel to immediately make good on its commitment to flood Gaza with aid. The Foreign Secretary reaffirmed these messages and the urgent need for a resolution at the UN Security Council on 18 November.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of existing environmental adaptation measures in helping businesses build resilience to climate-related disasters.

The Climate Change Act 2008 requires the Secretary of State to produce a National Adaptation Programme in response to the Government’s most recent Climate Change Risk Assessment, on a five-yearly cycle. The third National Adaptation Programme, published in July 2023, includes actions to address climate change risks to businesses through a combination of investment in resilience measures to tackle flooding and coastal erosion risks, evidence gathering (including annual business survey questions), business engagement and nature-based solutions. The Climate Change Committee provides a biennial assessment of progress in adapting to climate change. The next progress report, assessing the actions taken under the third National Adaptation Programme, is due in 2025. Alongside delivering the third National Adaptation Programme, Defra is committed to further strengthening this government's approach to climate resilience and will bring forward plans in due course.

Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with his international counterparts on the future of EU fishing rights in the UK's exclusive economic zone.

We have not held discussions with the EU on future access arrangements but have signalled willingness to listen to their proposals.

Whether her Department is taking steps to strengthen anti-money laundering regulations.

We are committed to ensuring the UK’s anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing regime is both effective and proportionate. To that end, a consultation on improving the effectiveness of the Money Laundering Regulations closed in June 2024 and collected feedback on a range of potential changes to the Regulations. HM Treasury is currently analysing this feedback and the Government will publish a response in due course.