Asked by: Baroness Manzoor (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to help solve the humanitarian and political crisis in Syria, and to help in the redevelopment of its infrastructure.
Answered by Lord Bates
The UK is at the forefront of the humanitarian response to the Syria crisis, providing lifesaving aid to millions of Syrians, helping Syrian refugees to remain in host countries in the region and enabling host countries to accommodate them. The UK has pledged £2.46 billion since the crisis began, our largest ever response to a single humanitarian crisis. We have helped to provide nearly 25 million food rations, over 9.5 million relief packages and over 7 million health consultations.
The UK supports fully the Syrian peace talks under the auspices of the UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura in Geneva. A negotiated political transition is the only way to end this terrible conflict. While the conflict is ongoing, our priority is to deliver lifesaving humanitarian aid those affected by the crisis. Support to reconstruction can only take place when a comprehensive, genuine and inclusive political transition is firmly under way.
Asked by: Baroness Manzoor (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to tackle racially motivated attacks against (1) ethnic minority women, and (2) asylum seekers and refugees.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Government deplores all racially motivated attacks. A strong legal framework is in place to tackle hate crime including criminal offences of incitement to racial hatred and racially or religiously aggravated assault and criminal damage. This Government published a new hate crime action plan in July 2016. The Government supports a range of programmes including Tell MAMA, True Vision and Stop Hate UK that focus on encouraging victims including ethnic minority women, asylum seekers and refugees to report hate crime and signposting them to services that provide support for victims.
The Government’s Building a Stronger Britain Together (BSBT) programme includes a range of organisations working with different communities across England and Wales that support women and girls from ethnic minorities.
Asked by: Baroness Manzoor (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to tackle workplace discrimination; in particular, what assessment they have made of the case for more flexible working for men; and what steps they are taking to address issues which prevent men from undertaking a greater share of care work in the home.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
The Government believes that increased opportunities for flexible working, including for men, will help to achieve full employment, increasing labour market participation among under-represented groups, and to close the gender pay gap. Flexible working can help families to achieve the right balance between the demands of work and home life and to decide how they will share responsibilities at home and at work.
Government has taken a number of steps to promote greater opportunities for flexible working. The Right to Request Flexible Working entitles employees with 26 weeks’ service to request a working pattern which suits them and their employer. Shared Parental Leave enables working parents to share up to 50 weeks of leave including up to 37 weeks of paid leave in the first year of their child’s life. We are committed to reviewing the impact of these policies in 2019 and 2018 respectively, once they have had a chance to bed in. In the meantime, as set out in the Government’s response to the Women and Equalities Select Committee’s report on the Gender Pay Gap, we will explore options for increasing communications activity around flexible working.
Asked by: Baroness Manzoor (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they will ensure that credit card companies give more help to those with debt problems following the introduction of new rules by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
This question has been passed on to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The FCA will reply to directly to the noble Baroness by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Asked by: Baroness Manzoor (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to increase investment in improving nutrition and health outcomes for infants and young children, in the light of the <i>Bilateral Development Review 2016</i>.
Answered by Lord Bates
The Bilateral Development Review sets out how we will invest to deliver our manifesto commitments. These include improving the nutrition of 50million people by 2020 and saving the lives of 1.4million children, through immunising 76million and working towards ending preventable child and maternal deaths.
Asked by: Baroness Manzoor (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the benefits of investing in early child development in the developing world.
Answered by Lord Bates
Evidence suggests that supporting children in their early years through health, education, nutrition and responsive care improves their learning potential and yields enormous long term benefits. By 2020 the UK will improve nutrition for 50million children under 5, women of childbearing age and adolescent girls, immunise 76million children against killer diseases and support 11million children in the poorest countries to gain a decent education.
Asked by: Baroness Manzoor (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they have taken to integrate nutrition into UK-funded reproductive, maternal, child and adolescent health programmes in the developing world.
Answered by Lord Bates
DFID’s publication ‘Choices for women: planned pregnancies, safe births and healthy newborns’, provides guidance for our investments in maternal and newborn health, including nutrition for adolescents, pregnant women and babies. DFID Kenya, for example, has enabled a high-impact set of nutrition interventions to be incorporated into the health system and has strengthened Government capacity to deliver these interventions alongside other essential services. The latest review of our bilateral programmes that support maternal, newborn and child health indicates that nutrition has indeed been incorporated in these investments.
Asked by: Baroness Manzoor (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to ensure that abandonment, as well as coercive and controlling behaviour, is included as part of their strategy to tackle domestic violence.
Answered by Baroness Williams of Trafford - Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms (HM Household) (Chief Whip, House of Lords)
This Government will not tolerate abuse through marriage or other relationships. We have taken a lead in tackling modern slavery, forced marriage and domestic violence and will continue to do so. All victims of domestic violence are entitled to the protection of the civil and criminal law while in the UK - regardless of immigration status. We will look carefully at any evidence of where further action might help to prevent abuse or support victims.
Abandonment can include blackmail, fraud, emotional abuse, financial abuse, controlling and coercive behaviour and domestic servitude and the Government has strengthened the law to capture these behaviours by, for example, introducing the new coercive or controlling behaviour offence which came into force on 29 December 2015. It carries a maximum 5 years imprisonment, a fine or both. It will mean victims who experience coercive and controlling behaviour that stops short of serious physical violence, but amounts to extreme psychological and emotional abuse, can bring their perpetrators to justice.
Asked by: Baroness Manzoor (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to promote progress towards (1) the World Health Assembly 2025 global nutrition targets, and (2) Sustainable Development Goal 2 to end all forms of malnutrition by 2030.
Answered by Lord Bates
DFID has committed to improve the nutrition of 50million people by 2020 to enable more countries to get on track to meet World Health Assembly and Sustainable Development Goal targets. We are working closely with partners to make sure countries receive effective support to accelerate reductions in malnutrition. Our support to the Global Nutrition Report helps monitor whether countries are on track to reach global targets.
Asked by: Baroness Manzoor (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have fully disbursed the commitments made at the 2013 Nutrition for Growth Summit; and if not, how much has been disbursed, and when they will disburse the remaining commitments.
Answered by Lord Bates
DFID provides annual updates on progress towards Nutrition for Growth (N4G) commitments through the Global Nutrition Report. DFID disbursed 40% of its N4G spending commitment in 2013 and 2014. The remaining funds committed will be disbursed gradually up to 2020 as nutrition programmes are implemented.