Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce in-donor refugee costs charged to the Overseas Development Assistance budget.

Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)

The Home Secretary is committed to ensuring that asylum costs fall and has already acted. The government has taken measures to reduce the asylum backlog and reform the asylum accommodation system to end the use of expensive accommodation in the next Spending Review (SR) period to ensure more of our Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget is spent on our development priorities overseas. The aid spent in the UK on refugee and asylum costs fell by a third last year and the Home Office is working to bring it down further.

In addition to this, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's (FCDO) budgets will no longer be exposed to the volatility of GNI fluctuations or ODA spending by other departments, including changes in asylum costs, providing greater predictability in our budgets.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to support upcoming replenishment cycles for the Global Fund, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and other multilateral initiatives.

Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)

We remain committed to supporting key global health institutions, including the Global Fund and Gavi, recognising their central role in the multilateral health architecture.  The UK announced our new investment in Gavi at the High-Level Summit on 25 June. Following the spending review, we are working through detailed decisions on how the Official Development Assistance budget will be used, including the decision regarding the UK's pledge to the Global Funds 8th replenishment, informed by internal and external consultation and impact assessments.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase humanitarian funding for food assistance programmes in the light of the increase in the number of people facing catastrophic hunger.

Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)

The UK is deeply concerned by rising levels of acute food insecurity and catastrophic hunger. We are a key government donor to the World Food Programme (WFP); in 2024 we contributed over $600 million to WFP initiatives, including in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Sudan, South Sudan and Haiti.

We are also driving international action to scale-up Pre-Arranged Finance, making sure finance reaches the most vulnerable and hardest hit ahead of, or quickly after, a disaster strikes. This includes supporting vulnerable countries and humanitarian agencies to respond to harvest failures caused by drought. We recently supported anticipatory drought insurance for WFP in Syria, which paid out $7.7 million for emergency assistance.

However, simply responding to crises is not a long-term solution, and we are working with partners to improve early warning systems, to act ahead of shocks and invest in strengthening countries' resilience to food crises in the longer-term.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how they marked the UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture on 26 June; and what plans they have to promote the introduction of international controls on weapons and equipment that could be used for torture, including at this year’s UN General Assembly.

Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK Government remains committed to preventing torture and tackling impunity for those who torture others. It is essential for safeguarding our security and integral to a fair legal system and the rule of law.

At the UN General Assembly, we will continue to work with allies to encourage all states to uphold their international human rights obligations. As a member of the Global Alliance on Torture Free Trade, the UK supports the initiative to stop the trade of goods used for capital punishment and torture. Goods are subject to export restrictions if they can be used for torture, capital punishment, or cruel and inhuman treatment. Export licence applications are considered against the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria. The Government will not grant a licence for items where we determine there is a clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate internal repression.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they have made in the production of an interim report on the National Youth Strategy.

Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The interim report, Today’s Youth Tomorrow’s Nation will be published shortly. To inform the report, a number of activities have been undertaken. These included a rapid evidence assessment, focus groups in each region and a national survey. In addition, findings from engagements with young people conducted by DCMS officials have been included, as well as findings from round-tables carried out by the Regional Youth Work Units.

Found: Tuesday 1 July 2025 3.30 pm Watch the meeting Members present: Lord Ricketts (The Chair); Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Found: Tuesday 24 June 2025 3.30 pm Watch the meeting Members present: Lord Ricketts (The Chair); Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Found: Tuesday 17 June 2025 3.30 pm Watch the meeting Members present: Lord Ricketts (The Chair); Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Found: Tuesday 3 June 2025 3.35 pm Watch the meeting Members present: Lord Stirrup (The Chair); Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Found: Tuesday 3 June 2025 3.35 pm Watch the meeting Members present: Lord Stirrup (The Chair); Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Found: Oversight and Transparency 1 Department for International Trade, ‘Letter to Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Women in Parliament APPG
Wednesday 11th June 2025

Found: Lords Mary Goudie, Baroness Goudie, Labour, House of Lords Joyce Anelay, Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Nutrition for Development APPG
Wednesday 11th June 2025

Found: time of the Inaugural Meeting, the Group’s formal membership includes: The Rt Hon the Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Nutrition for Development APPG
Wednesday 11th June 2025

Found: time of the Inaugural Meeting, the Group’s formal membership includes: The Rt Hon the Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Women's Health APPG
Wednesday 11th June 2025

Found: Portcullis House, Room Q Parliamentarians in attendance: Gill Furniss MP Baroness Shields Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Women's Health APPG
Wednesday 11th June 2025

Found: Portcullis House, Room Q Parliamentarians in attendance: Gill Furniss MP Baroness Shields Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Global Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights APPG
Wednesday 11th June 2025

Found: United Nations Population Fund Report – 24th May 2023 APPG on PDRH member Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Global Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights APPG
Wednesday 11th June 2025

Found: against the decision to reduce the ODA spend to 0.5%, including APPG on PDRH members Baroness Anelay of St Johns

Global Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights APPG
Wednesday 11th June 2025

Found: Gavi: Covid-19, 18th May 2020 APPG on PDRH member Baroness Anelay of St Johns asked the Government what