Committees on Arms ExportsLetter to the Chair of the Committees from Rt Hon William Hague MP, First Secretary of State and Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Thank you for your letter of 21 November about the Government’s review of arms exports and guidance on overseas security and justice assistance.

You may recall that on 6 September I provided a response to a written parliamentary question 69541 from Douglas Alexander confirming that the review of arms exports was an internal Foreign and Commonwealth Office review and so would not be published. This remains the position and we do not therefore plan to place the Review in the Library of the House, or make this available to Committees in full or in part.

The Overseas Security and Justice Assistance Guidance is an important tool to ensure that the Government’s overseas assistance work supports our values and is consistent with our human rights obligations. We remain committed to publication of the Guidance before the end of 2011 and will send a copy to the Committees as soon as it is finalised.

9 December 2011