Question follow-through · 22098

Hostage Taking

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when he plans to appoint the (a) special envoy for hostage affairs and (b) special envoy for arbitrary detention.

answeredForeign, Commonwealth and Development Office

About this written question

A written question asks a government minister for information in writing. Parliament publishes the question and any answer.

Answering body: Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
Tabled: 6 Jan 2025
Target answer date: 8 Jan 2025
Answer: 15 Jan 2025 · 9 calendar days after tabling

Elapsed calendar days describe the record timeline, not whether Parliament considers an answer on time.

Recorded timeline

6 Jan 2025
Question tabled
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when he plans to appoint the (a) special envoy for hostage affairs and (b) special envoy for arbitrary detention.
8 Jan 2025
Target answer date
Date supplied by the official written-questions record.
15 Jan 2025
Answer published
The FCDO is committed to strengthening support for British Nationals overseas, including through the appointment of an Envoy. Further details will be announced in due course.William Middleton has succeeded Charles Hay as Director for Gaza Hostages.

Open official record

Official data retrieved 28 Sept 2026.

Later records

Possible follow-up questions

Strong links require the same MP, department and exact heading. Other same-department questions are shown as unreviewed candidates, not as confirmed follow-ups. No debate link is asserted unless a stable source relationship exists.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Republika Srpska and Serbia: Politics and Government

16 Jan 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the Government considers joint committees between the legislatures of the Republic of Serbia and Republika Srpska as being compatible with the Dayton Agreement.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Ryan Cornelius

21 Jan 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Opinions adopted by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention at its 93rd session, 30 March-8 April 2022 : Opinion No. 19/2022 concerning Ryan Cornelius

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Ryan Cornelius

21 Jan 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will publicly call for the release of Ryan Cornelius.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Chinese Embassy: Planning Permission

29 Jan 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, for what reason the letter from him and the Secretary of State for the Home Department to the Planning Inspector in relation to the planning and listed building consent appli

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Written Questions

31 Jan 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when he plans to provide an answer to Question 24486 on Republika Srpska and Serbia: Politics and Government, tabled on 16 January 2025.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Crimes against Humanity

31 Jan 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what progress he has made on the Mass Atrocity Prevention Hub.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Artificial Intelligence

3 Feb 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with his (a) American, (b) European Union and (c) NATO counterparts on the DeepSeek artificial intelligence model.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Republika Srpska and Serbia: Politics and Government

21 Feb 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 31 January 2025 to Question 24486 on Republika Srpska and Serbia: Politics and Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of th

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Hong Kong: British National (Overseas)

27 Feb 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will call in the Ambassador of the People's Republic of China following reporting of cash offered by the Chinese Embassy for information on Hong Kong activists living i

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Russia: Ukraine

6 Mar 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the implications of the Budapest Memorandum for his policies.

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Serbia: Riot Control Weapons

8 Apr 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if his Department will support the request by over 500,000 Serbian petitioners to the UN for an international investigation into the use of sonic weaponry against protestors

Unreviewed candidateSame MP and department; topic relationship is unreviewed

Jagtar Singh Johal

17 Apr 2025 · To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has met with the family of Jagtar Singh Johal since his acquittal on 4 March 2025.