Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how much funding they gave to the Global Financing Facility in each year since 2015.

Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office publishes all programmatic spend data on the Devtracker website https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/. The programme code for the first phase of UK support to the Global Financing Facility (GFF) for Women, Children and Adolescents is '300486,' for the second phase it is '300888,' and for the upcoming third phase of support (from April 2025), the code will be '400074.'

The spend data requested is as follows:

Question

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Twycross on 16 September (HL693), on what grounds responses to the call for input have been considered "invalid".

Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

Responses to the call for input were deemed invalid where they did not meet the criteria set out on the call for input Gov.uk page under ‘how to respond’.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government with reference to the Department for Health and Social Care’s publication of the updated Notification of Child Death Form, which Minister, if any, approved the new questions on gender identity.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The current process for updating the child death review data collection forms does not require ministerial approval.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what was their bilateral expenditure on programmes targeting reproductive health in 2022 and 2023, through Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development input sector codes 13010, 13021/22, 13030 and 13081.

Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) annually reports on Official Development Assistance (ODA) expenditure via the Statistics on International Development publications (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-on-international-development) and are reported in line with OECD Development and Assistance Committee sector codes. The Government's bilateral expenditure on programmes targeting reproductive health for 2022 and 2023 is as follows:

*Please note "13020 - Reproductive Health Care" is the official OECD DAC code for both "13021" and "13022".

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what was their bilateral expenditure on programmes targeting HIV and AIDS in 2022 and 2023, through Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development input sector codes 13041 and 13042.

Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The UK remains a significant funder of the HIV response. In (i) 2022 and (ii) 2023 total bilateral expenditure for HIV and AIDS was (i) £7,928,506 and (ii) £10,311,308 respectively. This includes our funding to the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) to further improve access to essential HIV medicines and our funding to the Robert Carr Fund to support initiatives with grassroots organisations, including key populations, as part of the global HIV response.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what contributions they made to (1) core, (2) non-core, and (3) other funding, for (a) the United Nations Population Fund, (b) the World Health Organization, (c) the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, (d) the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS, (e) the International Planned Parenthood Federation, (f) Women and Children First UK, (g) the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, and (h) the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women in (i) 2022, and (ii) 2023.

Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Based on FCDO "Statistics on International Development: final UK aid spend 2023", the total amount of UK ODA financial contributions was:

Note omitted rows are a null answer, and figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Twycross on 16 September (HL694), which arm's-length bodies pay for an affiliation to Stonewall using public money.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Basildon - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal

Information on how issued funding is spent by arms length bodies, including payments to third party organisations, is not gathered centrally.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of total United Kingdom Overseas Development Assistance was allocated to Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in 2022 and 2023.

Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) annually reports on Official Development Assistance (ODA) expenditure via the Statistics on International Development publications (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-on-international-development). We report spend in line with OECD Development and Assistance Committee (OECD DAC) sector codes and do not publish Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) spend as it is not defined by the OECD DAC and spans across multiple OECD sector codes.

However, you may find the analysis published in the Deutsche Stiftung Weltbevölkerung (DSW) annual "Donor Delivering for SRHR" report of interest (https://donorsdelivering.report/all-editions/). Their latest report shows the UK allocated 4.38% of Official Development Assistance to Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in 2022. Estimates for 2023 are not available yet.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sherlock on 18 September (HL1037), whether the attire described in the Daily Telegraph article “Transgender civil servant wearing ‘fetish gear’ sparks Whitehall row”, published on 4 August, accords with the Department for Work and Pensions’ interpretation of professional and business-like clothing.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

I refer the noble Baroness to the answer I gave to question HL1037 on 18 September.

The DWP’s standards of behaviour statement requires employees to dress in a professional and business-like way. Professional and business-like has a normal, everyday meaning.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, with reference to the Department for Health and Social Care’s publication of the updated Notification of Child Death Form, whether the new questions on gender identity are voluntary for (1) NHS staff to ask, and (2) parents to answer.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Following the death of a child, it may not always be a healthcare professional making the notification and therefore these questions may be answered by a range of different professionals, for instance those in healthcare, police, or social care. The questions will be answered based on what the professional knows at the time when they are making the notification of death. Therefore, if they do not hold any information on the gender identity of the child, this question will not be answered.

Parents would not be completing these forms. The purpose of the notification form is to give the basic information on what is known about the child by the professional at the time of death.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following the imprisonment of a UK resident for conspiring to commit female genital mutilation against a young girl after the first conviction of its kind in England and Wales, what assessment they have made of their approach to investigating and prosecuting such cases.

Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is an abhorrent crime, and tackling FGM is an important part of this Government’s mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade. We are focused on preventing these crimes from happening, supporting and protecting survivors and those at risk, and bringing perpetrators to justice.

A range of criminal offences and preventative tools are available in this space.

To support the police in investigating this crime, the College of Policing has published Authorised Professional Practice. This sets out the action the police should take, including: working with local organisations to raise awareness of FGM, taking immediate steps to safeguard individuals at risk, (including through FGM Protection Orders), and securing evidence.

We know that the familial and hidden nature of FGM, and the fact victims are often relatively young, can present challenges in bringing a prosecution. That is why the police and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) have put in place a Joint Protocol on the Investigation and Prosecution of FGM. That encourages the police to refer every FGM case to the CPS at the earliest stage and sets out that the CPS will provide early investigative advice in all cases. In addition, every CPS area has a dedicated FGM Lead, and they have introduced guidance for prosecutors, which addresses common areas of challenge, including the need for expert evidence.

More broadly, the Government’s statutory guidance on FGM sets out the responsibilities of police and other statutory agencies in supporting and safeguarding women and girls affected by FGM, and the Home Office has made available free e-learning on FGM for frontline professionals which was completed by over 54,300 professionals in 2023.

Of course, we will look at the success of this case and ensure what worked is reflected in any review of the guidance.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how much funding they gave to Family Planning 2030 in each year since 2021.

Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office publishes all programmatic spend data on the Devtracker website https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/. The Programme code for support to the FP2030 Family Planning Partnership is '301361.'

The data requested is as follows:

Question

To ask His Majesty's Government whether a person who changes their legal sex status in Germany after the commencement of that country’s Self-Determination Act will be able to apply for a Gender Recognition Certificate in the UK without needing to provide medical reports.

Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

At the time of the commencement of The Gender Recognition (Approved Countries and Territories and Saving Provision) Order 2023, the international systems that were on the list were comparable to the UK’s standard route to legal gender recognition. Gender recognition systems across the world constantly change and we are working with our counterparts in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to ensure that any changes are monitored and noted for future updates. The Government will update the list annually, considering developments in other countries’ systems.

Question

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to remove Germany from the list of approved countries for the overseas route of gender recognition after the German Self-Determination Act comes into force on 1 November.

Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

At the time of the commencement of The Gender Recognition (Approved Countries and Territories and Saving Provision) Order 2023, the international systems that were on the list were comparable to the UK’s standard route to legal gender recognition. Gender recognition systems across the world constantly change and we are working with our counterparts in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to ensure that any changes are monitored and noted for future updates. The Government will update the list annually, considering developments in other countries’ systems.

Found: from Baroness of Nicholson of Winterbourne 43 Proposal 19: Letter from Baroness Hayter, Baroness Hoey, Baroness