The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
(Boris Johnson)
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has held meetings with a
number of missions about outstanding parking fine debt,
outstanding national non-domestic rates payments and unpaid
congestion charge debt. The director of protocol raises the
issue in his introductory meetings with all new ambassadors
and high commissioners whose missions are in debt to the
relevant authorities. FCO officials also press diplomatic
missions and international organisations to pay outstanding
fines and debts. In April this year, protocol directorate
wrote to diplomatic missions and international organisations
concerned giving them the opportunity to either pay their
outstanding debts, or appeal against specific fines if they
considered that they had been issued incorrectly.
Parking fines: in 2016, 4,311 parking fines incurred by
diplomatic missions and international organisations in London
were brought to our attention by local councils, Transport
for London and the City of London. These totalled at least(a)
£430,126.
Subsequent payments (including amounts waived by the above
authorities) totalled £102,164. There remains a total of
£327,962 in unpaid fines for 2016.
The table below details those diplomatic missions and
international organisations that have outstanding fines from
2016 totalling £1,000 or more, as of 28 June 2017.
Diplomatic Mission/International Organisation
2016
Amount of Outstanding Fines (excluding congestion charge) £
Embassy of the Republic of South Sudan
£83,215
High Commission for the Federal Republic of Nigeria
£30,024
Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia
£19,202
Embassy of the Republic of the Sudan
£17,985
High Commission for the Republic of Zambia
£11,220
Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekistan
£10,610
High Commission for Malaysia
£7,740
Embassy of the Republic of Cote d’lvoire
£7,040
Embassy of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
£6,440
Embassy of the Sultanate of Oman
£4,650
Embassy of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
£4,565
High Commission for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
£4,050
Embassy of France
£4,035
Embassy of the United Arab Emirates
£3,850
Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
£3,770
Embassy of the Republic of Liberia
£3,375
Embassy of the State of Qatar
£2,985
Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
£2,665
Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan
£2,580
Embassy of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
£2,520
High Commission for the United Republic of Tanzania
£2,055
Embassy of Libya
£1,935
Embassy of the Republic of Angola
£1,895
High Commission for Sierra Leone
£1,820
Embassy of the Republic of Yemen
£1,815
High Commission for the Republic of Ghana
£1,780
Embassy of the Republic of Iraq
£1,575
People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria
£1,435
Embassy of the People’s Republic of China
£1,365
Embassy of the Republic of Kosovo
£1,235
Embassy of the State of Kuwait
£1,225
High Commission for the Republic of South Africa
£1,195
Embassy of Georgia
£1,065
(a)The figure of £430,126 excludes the value of parking fines
issued by Barnet Council in 2016, because Barnet Council
failed to provide the FCO on request with the value of the
fines it had issued.
National non-domestic rates (NNDR): the majority of
diplomatic missions in the United Kingdom pay the NNDR due
from them. Diplomatic missions are obliged to pay only 6% of
the total NNDR value of their offices. This represents
payment for specific services received such as street
cleaning and street lighting.
As at 8 June 2017, the total amount of outstanding NNDR
payments, due before 31 December 2016, owed by foreign
diplomatic missions as advised by the valuation office agency
is £1,049,999, an increase of 16% over the 2015 figure, as
reported in the 2016 WMS (£907,976). However, £51,573 of this
outstanding debt is owed by Syria—which is not currently
represented in the UK and we have therefore been unable to
pursue this debt. Four missions are responsible for just over
a third of the remainder. We shall continue to urge those
with NNDR debt to pay their dues.
The table below details those diplomatic missions that, as of
8 June 2017, owed over £10,000 in respect of NNDR due before
31 December 2016.
Embassy of the Republic of the Sudan
£109,599
High Commission for the People’s Republic of Bangladesh
£107,427
Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran
£104,688
Embassy of the Republic of Zimbabwe
£79,852
High Commission for the Republic of Zambia
£39,081
Uganda High Commission
£36,885
Embassy of the Republic of Angola
£32,273
Embassy of the Republic of Liberia
£29,559
Embassy of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
£28,652
Embassy of Libya
£26,186
Embassy of the State of Qatar
£25,890
High Commission for the Republic of Cameroon
£25,126
Embassy of the Republic of Albania
£24,165
High Commission for the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri
Lanka
£23,846
Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt
£23,120
Embassy of Ukraine
£15,675
High Commission for Sierra Leone
£14,641
Embassy of the United Arab Emirates
£13,866
Embassy of the Republic of Cote d’lvoire
£13,098
Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania
£12,359
London congestion charge: the value of unpaid congestion
charge debt incurred by diplomatic missions and international
organisations in London since its introduction in February
2003 until 31 December 2016 as advised by Transport for
London (TfL) was £105,419,835. The table below shows those
diplomatic missions and international organisations with
outstanding fines of £100,000 or more.
Country
Number of Fines
TotalOutstanding
Embassy of the United States of America
96,274
£ 11,544,455
Embassy of Japan
63,869
£7,629,370
High Commission for the Federal Republic of Nigeria
54,237
£6,481,620
Embassy of the Russian Federation
47,760
£ 5,603,320
Office of the High Commissioner for India
40,929
£4,991,125
Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany
36,258
£4,221,590
Embassy of the Republic of Poland
31,780
£3,854,130
Embassy of the People’s Republic of China
30,317
£ 3,805,465
Office of the High Commissioner for Ghana
28,630
£ 3,465,960
Embassy of the Republic of Sudan
26,161
£ 3,048,475
Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan
24,032
£ 2,947,595
High Commission for Kenya
20,844
£ 2,453,305
Embassy of France
17,570
£2,090,815
High Commission for the United Republic of Tanzania
16,183
£ 1,893,325
Commission for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
15,979
£1,971,105
Embassy of Spain
15,855
£ 1,893,420
Embassy of the Republic of Korea
14,777
£ 1,805,150
Embassy of Romania
13,069
£ 1,547,415
High Commission for the Republic of South Africa
12,963
£ 1,503,195
Embassy of the Republic of Cuba
12,744
£ 1,557,555
Embassy of Algeria
12,694
£ 1,495,660
High Commission for Sierra Leone
12,038
£ 1,404,675
Embassy of Greece
12,028
£ 1,419,575
Embassy of Ukraine
11,759
£ 1,380,430
Embassy of Hungary
9,157
£ 1,097,580
High Commission for the Republic of Cyprus
8,588
£ 1,030,060
High Commission for the Republic of Zambia
7,481
£ 882,040
Embassy of the Republic of Yemen
7,475
£ 889,990
Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria
6,853
£ 797,035
High Commission for the Republic of Cameroon
5,923
£692,170
Embassy of the Republic of Belarus
5,796
£ 680,595
High Commission for the Republic of Malawi
5,576
£ 663,380
High Commission for Botswana
5,515
£ 667,605
Embassy of the Slovak Republic
5,493
£641,215
Embassy of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
5,243
£ 608,795
High Commission for the Republic of Namibia
5,186
£602,145
High Commission for the Republic of Mozambique
5,182
£611,340
Embassy of the Republic of Zimbabwe
5,120
£575,910
High Commission for Kingdom of Swaziland
5,008
£581,510
Embassy of the Republic of Cote d’lvoire
4,673
£ 553,865
High Commission for Malta
4,533
£ 546,420
Embassy of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea
4,428
£519,215
Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania
4,353
£521,270
Embassy of the Republic of Turkey
4,344
£ 530,465
Embassy of Austria
4,290
£513,005
High Commission for Mauritius
4,223
£494,495
High Commission for the Kingdom of Lesotho
3,993
£ 467,055
High Commission for Uganda
3,872
£ 464,420
Embassy of the Republic of Liberia
3,772
£ 457,905
Embassy of Belgium
3,597
£ 430,060
Embassy of the Czech Republic
3,529
£ 407,600
Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
3,350
£ 395,400
Embassy of the Republic of Guinea
3,314
£ 385,265
Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
3,213
£ 386,600
Embassy of Denmark
2,981
£356,010
High Commission for Jamaica
2,909
£ 345,545
Embassy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
2,727
£ 338,580
Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco
2,713
£ 344,840
Embassy of the Republic of South Sudan
2,612
£ 333,520
High Commission for the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri
Lanka
2,505
£315,670
Embassy of Tunisia
2,353
£ 288,890
Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt
2,290
£241,725
Embassy of Portugal
2,263
£ 278,035
Embassy of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
2,221
£ 255,675
Embassy of the Republic of Latvia
2,196
£265,155
Embassy of Finland
2,160
£ 258,490
Embassy of Luxembourg
2,018
£ 243,470
Embassy of the Republic of Iraq
1,971
£ 248,535
High Commission for Antigua & Barbuda
1,966
£ 232,570
Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia
1,958
£ 239,025
Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
1,808
£ 197,875
High Commission for Belize
1,670
£ 206,635
Embassy of Estonia
1,437
£ 177,645
Embassy of the Dominican Republic
1,221
£ 146,260
Embassy of the State of Eritrea
1,209
£ 142,925
High Commission for Guyana
1,102
£ 129,105
The Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the
International Maritime Organisation
1,021
£ 126,795
Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania
982
£ 103,590
High Commission for the Republic of the Maldives
961
£116,325
High Commission for Seychelles
908
£ 111,365
Figures for previous years are available in the Secretary for
State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs’ written statement
to the House on 21 July 2016, Official Report, column 47WS
(HCWS100).
[HCWS154]
