Written questions by Morton.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 28 January 2025 to Question 24872 on Nutrition for Growth Summit, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of making an (a) financial and (b) policy announcement from the UK at the Nutrition for Growth summit.

The UK remains committed to meeting its existing Nutrition for Growth (N4G) financial commitment of spending £1.5 billion from 2022 to 2030 on nutrition objectives. For the 2025 Nutrition for Growth summit, the UK will champion the integration of improved nutrition outcomes in other sectors, including health, agriculture, humanitarian, and climate, and is considering further policy commitments. On a further financial commitment, Ministers will consider Official Development Assistance (ODA) allocations for future years as part of the Spending Review, which will conclude in the summer.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Development of 23 January 2025 on International Day of Education, Official Report, column 434WH, what (a) consideration and (b) priority has been given to UK global education funding in the development review.

The international development review considers how to maximise the impact of the FCDO's integrated development and diplomacy model and how we can improve development capability and assurance within the department. The review scope did not include specific sectoral funding.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions (a) he and (b) officials in his Department have had with (i) the International Committee of the Red Cross and (ii) Chancellor of the Exchequer on the International Committee of the Red Cross's next funding period.

For many years the UK Government has funded the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) through provision of core unrestricted funding on a multi-year basis, as well as annual bilateral contributions to particular emergency contexts. In 2024, the UK provided over £192 million to the ICRC, of which £48 million was unrestricted funding. Future UK funding for ICRC will be determined as part of the Spending Review process.The Foreign Secretary met with the ICRC's President Mirjana Spoljaric in October 2024 at the UN General Assembly. Ministers within the FCDO have also had several direct engagements with ICRC officials in recent months, both in London and in several humanitarian contexts. Officials from the FCDO meet and coordinate regularly with ICRC officials both in London and Geneva, and in conflict affected countries around the world. The UK is also co-chairing the ICRC Donor Support Group from June 2025.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to support the work of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

For many years the UK Government has funded the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) through provision of core unrestricted funding on a multi-year basis, as well as annual bilateral contributions to particular emergency contexts. In 2024, the UK provided over £192 million to the ICRC, of which £48 million was unrestricted funding. Future UK funding for ICRC will be determined as part of the Spending Review process.The Foreign Secretary met with the ICRC's President Mirjana Spoljaric in October 2024 at the UN General Assembly. Ministers within the FCDO have also had several direct engagements with ICRC officials in recent months, both in London and in several humanitarian contexts. Officials from the FCDO meet and coordinate regularly with ICRC officials both in London and Geneva, and in conflict affected countries around the world. The UK is also co-chairing the ICRC Donor Support Group from June 2025.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Development of 23 January 2025 on International Day of Education, Official Report, column 434WH, whether he plans to consult hon. Members on the findings of the development review.

The Foreign Secretary is considering his response to the three reviews he commissioned into the UK's Global Impact, Development and Economic Diplomacy. He plans to inform Hon. Members of the findings of the reviews and his response in the coming weeks.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the continued operation of the British Council in countries where other hostile state actors are present.

The British Council is operationally independent from the UK Government. Decisions relating to the size and model of its overseas network are operational matters for the British Council.The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) works with the British Council to ensure strategic alignment between FCDO objectives and British Council activity.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to Q66 of the oral evidence given by the Chief Executive of the British Council to the Foreign Affairs Committee on 13 January 2025, HC 609, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the closure of British Council offices in up to 40 countries on the UK's (a) soft power and b) security in Europe.

The British Council is operationally independent from the UK Government. Decisions relating to the size and model of its overseas network are operational matters for the British Council.The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) works with the British Council to ensure strategic alignment between FCDO objectives and British Council activity.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing multi-year funding to support (a) food-insecure people in Sudan and (b) Sudanese refugees in neighbouring countries.

The UK is committed to addressing the humanitarian catastrophe in Sudan. We are deeply concerned by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Famine Review Committee's findings in December 2024 that the famine has spread to at least five areas of Sudan and is projected to expand into at least ten areas by May 2025. In November 2024, the UK announced a further £113 million of aid. With this announcement, the UK has doubled our aid to Sudan and the regional response this year to £226.5 million. During his visit to the Sudan-Chad border at Adré in Janaury, the Foreign Secretary also announced £20 million in additional funding.Ministers will consider Official Development Assistance allocations for 2025/26 over the coming months, and we will publish them in the Annual Report & Accounts in Summer 2025. The next phase of the Spending Review will set departmental budgets from 2026/27 to 2029/30.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent diplomatic steps he has taken to help secure guarantees from Sudan’s warring parties that humanitarian assistance will be delivered (a) safely and (b) unimpeded to people affected by conflict.

The UK remains fully committed to ensuring safe and unimpeded humanitarian access in Sudan. In January, the Foreign Secretary visited the Chad-Sudan border at Adré to see first-hand the impact of conflict on Sudanese refugees. He used the visit as an opportunity to call again on warring parties to urgently improve humanitarian access. On 25 November 2024, the Foreign Secretary also chaired a Sudan session during the G7 + Arab Quint Foreign Ministers' meeting to discuss collective action the G7 and Quint could take with the warring parties to push for improved humanitarian access, protection of civilians, and increased aid. In our statements at the United Nations Security Council, including most recently in an open briefing on 6 January, as well as in our engagements with international partners, the UK continues to push for additional aid routes across Sudan and into it, including through South Sudan. The UK Special Representative, Richard Crowder, met the head of the Sudanese Armed Forces, General Burhan, during his first visit to Sudan in December 2024, and pressed him on current impediments to access such as visas.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent diplomatic steps he has taken with his international counterparts to help end conflict in Sudan.

The Foreign Secretary and I have both made addressing the situation in Sudan a priority, and are actively working together with a range of regional and international partners towards ending the suffering of the Sudanese people. On 24 January, the Foreign Secretary travelled to the Chad/Sudan border and met with Sudanese refugees. During this visit, he announced his intention to convene Foreign Ministers in London this spring to galvanise international political efforts to end the conflict.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what criteria he will use to evaluate the commitment of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham regime to (a) inclusive governance and (b) human rights.

The UK fully supports a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political transition process leading to an inclusive, non-sectarian and representative government. As a next step, we hope to see representative figures from across Syria appointed to the transitional government and the recently announced Legislative Council and Preparatory Committee. We hope there will be a clear process and timeline for this next phase of the transition, which respects the rights of all Syrians.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much funding his Department has provided to the British Council in the 2024-25 financial year; what information his Department holds on the level of funding provided to equivalent organisations in other G7 countries; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the difference in funding levels on the projection of UK soft power.

In 2024/25, the FCDO will provide the British Council with £162.5 million Grant-in-Aid funding. The British Council is projected to generate £885 million from other sources over the same period, according to its Corporate Plan 2024-25. This self-generated income is largely derived from the British Council's teaching and exams businesses.The British Council's specific charitable objects are set out in its Royal Charter. An assessment of any difference in levels of funding with international comparators is not directly equivalent given the British Council's specific charitable objects.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to his Locarno speech, delivered on 9 January 2025, what steps his Department is taking to strengthen defence collaboration with NATO allies.

The Government is committed to a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) First Defence Policy, through which we are making NATO stronger, ensuring one billion North Americans and Europeans are all safer and more prosperous. With our reset of relations, we are working with our European Allies to harden Europe's defences. European NATO Allies must continue to take greater responsibility for our own security - spending more, producing more, and delivering larger and more capable forces. With threats increasing, the UK is committed to strengthening defence collaboration with NATO Allies even further with a cast iron commitment to increasing defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP. That is the message the Foreign Secretary and I took to the December 2024 Foreign Ministers meeting.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of his policies on climate change on the International Women and Girls Strategy 2023 to 2030.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is committed to ensuring gender equality is a key part of our programming on climate and addressing gendered inequalities as part of our fight against climate change. We are committed to increasing the proportion of our international climate finance that will have gender equality objectives. At COP29, I launched a groundbreaking new report concerning climate change and gender-based violence and announced up to £5.5 million to support grassroots organisations and to increase women's voices and active participation in the design of water and nature-based solutions across the Middle East and North Africa.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the annual budget of the Soft Power Council is.

The first meeting of the Soft Power Council on 15 January was financed from within existing budgets. As the Council is a new area of activity, we continue, jointly with the Department for Culture Media and Sport, to work up a comprehensive spending review bid that will determine the Soft Power Council budget in due course.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of Syrian refugees (a) in the UK and (b) globally who are returning to Syria.

The Home Office publishes data on asylum seekers and refugees who come to the UK in the 'Immigration System Statistics' quarterly release. The Home Office does not track the addresses of individuals once they have been granted refugee status, and refugees are free to move around or leave the UK.As of 30 January, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimate that some 237,000 Syrians have returned to Syria since the fall of Assad. These figures include Syrians returning from Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt, as well those transiting from beyond the region.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the planned frequency of meetings of the Soft Power Council is.

The Council aims to meet in plenary on a roughly quarterly basis. Smaller working groups and roundtables with the Council's members will form to examine specific geographies, themes and issues, with frequency of meetings calibrated according to need.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the Government’s policy is on the repatriation of British citizens who travelled to Islamic State-led territories to support that group.

Our priority remains to ensure the safety and security of the UK. We will continue to do whatever is necessary to protect the UK from those who pose a threat to our security.All requests for consular assistance from Syria are considered on a case-by-case basis, taking into account all relevant circumstances including, but not limited to, national security.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he plans to take to deliver humanitarian aid to support the Syrian people.

In response to recent events, humanitarian aid agencies have rapidly scaled up the ongoing international aid effort to support Syrians inside Syria and across the region. The UK announced an additional £61 million to support this. We have strict measures in place to ensure UK aid reaches those most in need. We conduct rigorous and robust checks to ensure aid goes to the people that need it, delivers value for money and protects against aid diversion.The UK is working with the UN and other partners to ensure the aid response meets needs most effectively. To this end, we continue to advocate for flexible humanitarian funding, strengthened co-ordination, an updated needs assessment, and unimpeded access.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment has he made of the potential implications for his policies of the treatment of Christian refugees from Myanmar in India.

The UK Government is committed defending religious freedom for all in Myanmar. We are aware of Myanmar Christian refugees in India's Christian-majority states, Nagaland, and Mizoram. We continue to raise concerns about discrimination of religious minorities in international forums, including through our co-sponsorship of a UN Human Rights Council resolution on Myanmar in April 2024, which underscored the importance of addressing the root cause of violations against religious minorities, including Christians. Additionally, we provide funding to the UN's Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar and have established the Myanmar Witness programme to collect and preserve evidence of violations and abuses, including atrocities against religious minority groups within Myanmar.