HANSARDCommons19 Nov 20252 contributions

Diplomatic Missions and International Organisations: Debts 2024-25

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (Chris Elmore)

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) officials have regular contact with diplomatic missions and international organisations in the UK about outstanding national non-domestic rates (NNDR) payments, outstanding parking fine debt and unpaid London congestion charge debt, to press for payment of outstanding debt and fines. Protocol directorate wrote in April 2025 to all diplomatic missions and international organisations about their obligations to pay the charges, fines and taxes for which they are liable, and has since written directly to those missions with outstanding debt to give them the opportunity to either pay outstanding debts, or to appeal against specific fines and charges that they consider incorrectly recorded.

National non-domestic rates:

The majority of diplomatic missions in the United Kingdom pay the national non-domestic rates (NNDR) due from them. Diplomatic missions and international organisations 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 30 June 2025, the total amount owed to HMG for NNDR invoices issued up to 31 March 2025 is £4,458,866. Representation in 2024-25 by protocol directorate of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to diplomatic missions and international organisations has led to a reduction since April 2024 of over £1.2 million NNDR debt.

Diplomatic premises of the following countries and international organisations have balances owing in excess of £10,000 in respect of NNDR for invoices issued up to 31 March 2025:

Diplomatic Mission / International Organisation	Value of outstanding Beneficial Portion of NNDR payments due
Embassy of the People’s Republic of China	£528,051.64
Embassy of the Republic of the Sudan	£269,902.03
Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran	£264,637.81
Embassy of Libya	£241,751.25
Embassy of the Republic of Zimbabwe	£196,685.52
High Commission for the Republic of Zambia	£189,348.60
Embassy of the Russian Federation	£172,991.34
High Commission of the Republic of India	£171,976.59
High Commission for the Federal Republic of Nigeria	£168,841.95
Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco	£109,923.16
High Commission of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka	£107,609.28
High Commission for the People s Republic of Bangladesh	£106,402.09
Embassy of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia	£103,413.32
High Commission of the Republic of South Africa	£102,386.49
Uganda High Commission	£83,780.71
Sierra Leone High Commission	£81,989.86
Embassy of the Republic of Iraq	£77,776.11
Embassy of Tunisia	£64,192.31
Embassy of the People s Democratic Republic of Algeria	£58,487.81
Embassy of the Republic of Liberia	£57,733.62
Embassy of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea	£57,658.64
Kingdom of Eswatini High Commission	£57,532.48
The Gambia High Commission	£52,253.03
Embassy of the Republic of Yemen	£50,137.92
Embassy of the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire	£47,778.81
High Commission for the Republic of Cameroon	£42,399.47
Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela	£35,418.96
Embassy of the Republic of Cuba	£35,306.86
Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria	£32,760.25
High Commission for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan	£31,120.41
High Commission of the Republic of Fiji	£26,805.17
Embassy of Luxembourg	£26,581.56
Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia	£26,336.97
High Commission Of the Republic of Malawi	£25,263.68
High Commission of the United Republic of Tanzania	£24,805.01
Kenya High Commission	£23,695.63
Embassy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo	£23,669.33
Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation	£23,364.36
High Commission of the Republic of Ghana	£23,008.64
Embassy of Portugal	£22,697.56
Embassy of the Sultanate of Oman	£22,124.20
Embassy of the Argentine Republic	£21,746.47
Embassy of the United Arab Emirates	£21,489.65
Embassy of Iceland	£20,156.76
Embassy of the Republic of Haiti	£19,146.39
Malaysian High Commission	£18,241.54
Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt	£17,892.27
Embassy of the Republic of Paraguay	£17,447.98
Embassy of the Republic of Albania	£16,637.60
Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan	£15,705.78
Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekistan	£15,194.10
Embassy of the Republic of Guinea	£15,082.76
Jamaican High Commission	£14,131.20
Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia	£13,446.99
Embassy of the Republic of Armenia	£12,775.22
Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany	£12,466.26
Embassy of the Republic of Croatia	£11,827.06
Embassy of the Republic of Türkiye	£11,813.76
Embassy of the State of Eritrea	£11,592.57
The High Commission of the Republic of Seychelles	£11,567.59
High Commission of the Gabonese Republic	£11,275.32
High Commission for Saint Lucia	£10,951.20
Rwanda High Commission	£10,893.12
High Commission for Grenada	£10,892.50
High Commission of the Kingdom of Lesotho	£10,748.40
Embassy of the Kyrgyz Republic	£10,528.90
Embassy of Uruguay	£10,483.08
Embassy of Nicaragua	£10,022.49

Parking Fines:

Parking fines incurred by diplomatic missions and international organisations are brought to our attention by local authorities, primarily but not exclusively in London. The FCDO considers those with privileges and immunities liable for fines issued as penalty charge notices (PCNs) by local authorities for vehicle parking infringements. We expect PCNs to be paid to the issuing office.

The FCDO regularly reminds missions and international organisations to pay outstanding PCNs. We wrote to all missions and international organisation in April 2025 to remind them of their obligations to pay fines for parking infringements and have written to those missions and organisations with outstanding debt, giving them the opportunity either to pay or to appeal against them if they consider that the fines had been recorded incorrectly.

As at 30 May 2025, the total value of outstanding PCNs notified to FCDO by local authorities is £1,358,383. The table below details those diplomatic missions and international organizations which have outstanding PCN fines totalling £10,000 or more:

Mission / International Organisation	Value of outstanding PCNs
Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia	£289,285.00
Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan	£127,355.00
High Commission for the Federal Republic of Nigeria	£78,575.00
Embassy of the Republic of Iraq	£73,105.00
Uganda High Commission	£67,095.00
Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco	£65,519.00
Embassy of the Republic of South Sudan	£42,459.00
Embassy of the Republic of the Sudan	£41,015.00
Embassy of the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire	£29,335.00
Embassy of the Sultanate of Oman	£27,880.00
Embassy of Romania	£25,780.00
High Commission of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka	£25,645.00
Embassy of the United Arab Emirates	£21,545.00
High Commission for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan	£20,995.00
Embassy of the State of Qatar	£19,220.00
High Commission for the Republic of Zambia	£19,060.00
Malaysian High Commission	£17,869.00
High Commission of the United Republic of Tanzania	£17,505.00
Embassy of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia	£15,185.00
Embassy of the People’s Republic of China	£14,253.00
High Commission of the Republic of Ghana	£13,900.00
Embassy of Georgia	£13,040.00
Embassy of Hungary	£11,260.00
Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan	£10,725.00

London Congestion Charge:

The value of unpaid congestion charge debt incurred by diplomatic missions in London since its introduction in February 2003 until 30 September 2025, as advised by Transport for London (TfL), was £164,621,750. TfL publishes details of diplomatic missions with outstanding fines at: https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/publications-and-reports/congestion-charge

We consider that there are no legal grounds to exempt diplomatic missions from the London congestion charge, which is comparable to a parking fee or toll charge they are required to pay. FCDO officials wrote to all missions in April 2025 to encourage payment and directly to those missions with outstanding debt, giving them the opportunity either to pay or to appeal against any charges and penalty charge notices they consider to have been recorded incorrectly. TfL has similarly approached diplomatic missions.

The table below shows those diplomatic missions with outstanding fines of £100,000 or more:

U.S. Embassy	£15,857,775
Embassy of the People s Republic of China	£11,489,780
Embassy of Japan	£10,932,048
Office of the High Commissioner for India	£10,070,585
High Commission for the Federal Republic of Nigeria	£9,383,075
Embassy of the Russian Federation	£6,143,715
Embassy of the Republic of Poland	£6,117,550
High Commission of the Republic of Ghana	£5,655,045
Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan	£5,588,665
Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany	£4,824,040
Embassy of the Republic of the Sudan	£4,310,870
High Commission for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan	£3,831,060
Kenya High Commission	£3,768,270
Embassy of the Republic of Cuba	£3,088,520
Embassy of the Republic of Korea	£3,024,760
People s Democratic Republic of Algeria	£2745,720
Embassy of France	£2,728,320
High Commission of the United Republic of Tanzania	£2,503,640
Embassy of Spain	£2,418,000
Embassy of the Republic of Türkiye	£2,206,120
High Commission of the Republic of South Africa	£2,191,370
Sierra Leone High Commission	£2,161,095
Embassy of Romania	£2,010,250
Embassy of Greece	£1,840,742
Embassy of Ukraine	£1,825,320
High Commission of the Republic of Cyprus	£1,702,880
Embassy of Hungary	£1,547,850
High Commission for the Republic of Zambia	£1,240,640
Botswana High Commission	£1,211,290
Embassy of the Republic of Yemen	£1,153,560
Uganda High Commission	£1,031,060
Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria	£1,026,830
High Commission of the Republic of Malawi	£959,530
Embassy of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia	£933,430
Embassy of the Republic of Zimbabwe	£958,055
High Commission for the Republic of Mozambique	£956,700
Embassy of the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire	£929,540
High Commission of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka	£920,490
High Commission for the Republic of Namibia	£909,880
Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco	£903,610
Kingdom of Eswatini High Commission	£889,390
Malta High Commission	£817,055
High Commission for the Republic of Cameroon	£792,150
Embassy of Belgium	£786,840
Mauritius High Commission	£748,655
Embassy of the Republic of Belarus	£744,085
Embassy of Slovakia	£719,790
Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania	£710,265
Embassy of Austria	£694,060
Embassy of the Republic of Liberia	£674,670
Embassy of the Republic of Iraq	£629,460
Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan	£612,680
High Commission of the Kingdom of Lesotho	£609,700
Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam	£589,110
Embassy of The Republic of Guinea	£583,890
Embassy of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea	£570,290
Embassy of Tunisia	£570,160
Jamaican High Commission	£529,740
Embassy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo	£521,580
Embassy of the Czech Republic	£506,200
Embassy of the Republic of South Sudan	£500,790
Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia	£481,743
Royal Danish Embassy	£435,695
Embassy of the Republic of Latvia	£388,240
Embassy of Portugal	£382,120
Embassy of Luxembourg	£372,125
High Commission for Antigua and Barbuda	£368,475
Embassy of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan	£363,020
High Commission of the Republic of Maldives	£312,470
Embassy of the Democratic People s Republic of Korea	£276,590
Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia	£260,560
Embassy of Estonia	£259,010
Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania	£257,120
Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt	£244,000
High Commission for Guyana	£217,900
Embassy of the State of Eritrea	£203,080
Embassy of the Republic of Armenia	£198,790
Embassy of the Kyrgyz Republic	£181,257
Embassy of the Dominican Republic	£180,790
Embassy of the Republic of Senegal	£178,365
The High Commission of the Republic of Seychelles	£169,935
High Commission for Saint Lucia	£159,230
Embassy of El Salvador	£156,715
The Gambia High Commission	£136,690
Embassy of the Republic of Moldova	£134,830
Embassy of the Republic of Albania	£124,480
Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran	£111,020
Embassy of Bosnia & Herzegovina	£101,380

Figures for previous years are available in the written statement to the House on 14 November 2024 (UIN HCWS218), which can be found at: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2024-11-14/hcws218

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