Commonwealth Heads of Government

Baroness Sugg Excerpts

Thursday 27th May 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, on the specifics, I will write to the noble Baroness with an update on vaccines. The commitment that we gave to supporting global health in the context of the Commonwealth remains a priority for us as chair-in-office. Indeed, we are discussing this with the next chair-in-office, Rwanda.

[Baroness Sugg (Con)]

My Lords, I was pleased to see sexual and reproductive health referred to at last week’s Commonwealth Health Ministers’ meeting. Does my noble friend agree that access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services and rights and comprehensive sexual education are essential to achieve the aims of the Government and the Commonwealth on 12 years of quality education? If so, will he commit the Government to putting these issues on the agenda at the next Heads of Government Meeting?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

I can certainly say yes to my noble friend on the commitment and prioritisation that we need to give and assure her that I will raise this issue directly with Rwanda and press for the inclusion of SRHR in the CHOGM communiqué.

Overseas Development Assistance

Baroness Sugg Excerpts

Wednesday 26th May 2021 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness Sugg]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress they have made towards legislation to reduce Overseas Development Assistance funding.

[The Minister of State, Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park) (Con) [V]]

My Lords, the Foreign Secretary is looking very carefully at this issue. We will act in line with the International Development (Official Development Assistance Target) Act 2015, which explicitly envisages that there may be circumstances in which the 0.7% target is not met and provides for reporting to Parliament in that event. We have been clear that we intend to return to spending 0.7% of our national income on international development when the fiscal situation allows.

--- Later in debate ---

[Baroness Sugg (Con) [V]]

My Lords, the UK aid cuts are not only having devastating consequences for millions of people around the world but are also severely damaging our international reputation. This is all ahead of the Prime Minister hosting the G7 in just a few weeks’ time. Of all the countries attending that meeting, we are the only one cutting our spending on aid in the midst of the global pandemic. The self-imposed ceiling of 0.5% is stopping us contributing our fair share on global vaccines. Given that the most recent Bank of England forecast is that the economy will return to pre-pandemic levels by the end of the year, does my noble friend agree that now, ahead of the G7, would be the ideal time for the Prime Minister to confirm that the UK will return to 0.7% next year?

[Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con) [V]]

My Lords, the UK economy has undergone the worst shock for 300 years, and it is against that backdrop that we were forced to prioritise public spending, including the temporary cut of ODA to 0.5%. We will return to spending 0.7% as soon as the fiscal situation allows, as confirmed in the integrated review. I hope that that is as soon as it possibly can be, but the UK remains a development superpower and will spend £10 billion on ODA. We are among the most generous countries in the world.

COP 26

Baroness Sugg Excerpts

Tuesday 25th May 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con) [V]]

My Lords, despite the cut in aid—which is not something that anyone welcomes or wants and which I hope will be restored shortly—the UK remains one of the most generous donors in the world. As I said in answer to a previous question, we are the only country to have committed to doubling our international climate finance and to spending an increasing proportion of that on nature-based solutions. This particularly helps the climate-vulnerable nations, which tend to be more dependent on the free services provided by nature that we are currently destroying. These nations also benefit from investments in nature to boost resilience, particularly that of coastal communities, which, again, define most of the climate-vulnerable nations. So I believe the UK is stepping up in relation to its responsibilities to the most vulnerable nations on earth.

[Baroness Sugg (Con)]

My Lords, ensuring that girls receive 12 years of quality education can be one of the most powerful climate solutions, so what ambitions do the Government have for education at COP 26?

[Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con) [V]]

My Lords, the UK is committed to delivering an inclusive COP 26 and to the implementation of the UNFCCC gender action plan. We know that only with the full, equal, meaningful participation and leadership of women and girls in all levels of climate action will we deliver the most sustainable outcomes. The COP president-designate has established a number of advisory groups to guide our planning and delivery of COP; that includes indigenous leaders as well as a subgroup focusing specifically on gender and inclusion.

Official Development Assistance: Landmine Clearance

Baroness Sugg Excerpts

Monday 17th May 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, notwithstanding the reduction, I agree with the noble Lord that we remain among the leading donors, but we recognise the large gap between donor funding and the resources required. We are now investing in research into innovative financing options—for example, exploring the use of social impact bonds and public/private partnerships—to meet that funding gap. I assure the noble Lord that it remains an important focus, not just in soft power but because we save lives by the investments we make.

[Baroness Sugg (Con)]

My Lords, conflict and its legacy, such as landmines, disproportionately affects women and girls. Cutting support to these and other programmes is undeniably going to make life harder for women and girls around the world. While full impact assessments of the cuts were not carried out, there was an equalities impact assessment. Will my noble friend the Minister commit to publishing this, in line with the Equality Act 2010?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, my noble friend is quite right that an overall assessment was done. I will take the specific requirement to publish back to the department. It is certainly our intention to ensure full transparency when it comes to this issue.

Integrated Review: Development Aid

Baroness Sugg Excerpts

Wednesday 28th April 2021 Grand Committee

[Baroness Sugg (Con)]

My Lords, the decision to break the commitment to spend 0.7% of our GNI on international development undermines the objectives outlined in the integrated review. This year the UK is hosting three crucial summits. We have high ambitions to use the G7 to lead the world’s efforts to build back better from Covid-19, yet we are the only G7 country that is not increasing development spend in the midst of a global pandemic. We are using the GPE summit to galvanise investment into education, yet we are cutting our investment into education by 25% from last year—40% on average in the last four years. For COP 26, surely the most crucial summit of our time, while we are keeping our ICF commitment, we are cutting climate and other bilateral programmes in the very countries that we are trying to encourage to come forward with ambitious plans on climate.

We are now starting to see the real-world consequences of these cuts. The noble Lord, Lord Alton, highlighted many of these in his excellent opening speech. To them I would add the consequences to family planning and voluntary contraception. These might be cut by up to 70% to 80%, taking away the ability of women to have control over if and when to have children and how many children to have. The scales of these cuts and the impacts they will have are difficult to comprehend. One gender expert to whom I spoke yesterday described these cuts as acts of violence against the world’s poorest women and girls.

Now that we have seen this reality, I hope the Government will set out a clear timetable for when they will return to the manifesto commitment to spend 0.7%, which, let us not forget, is enshrined in law.

I have three questions for my noble friend the Minister. Last week’s WMS did not give the information that Parliament needs to carry out its role of scrutinising the Executive. It was in no way an improvement on what we have had before; DfID routinely published geographic and thematic budgets at least one year in advance, in detail. We are now into the new financial year. These budgets obviously exist and they need to be published. Will my noble friend commit to publishing full details of country and thematic breakdowns by the end of May? Secondly, organisations still have not received funding confirmation. Can my noble friend provide a clear deadline for when these final decisions will be communicated? Finally, can he tell me when the Government will introduce legislation to ensure that they are acting lawfully?

Overseas Development Assistance: Budget

Baroness Sugg Excerpts

Tuesday 27th April 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

I can certainly confirm that I would be happy to meet the group, and I will take the request back to my right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary. I stand by the noble Lord’s assessment; this House is full of wisdom, not just on ODA but across many areas.

[Baroness Sugg (Con) [V]]

My Lords, I regret that girls’ education has had less funding allocated this year because of the cuts; that shows that, with the scale of the cuts, even that priority is suffering. On cuts to sexual and reproductive health spending, I understand that the UK flagship programme WISH is being closed and that there will be significant reductions—in the region of 70% to 80%—to reproductive health supplies. Can my noble friend the Minister tell me how much funding will be allocated to sexual and reproductive health and rights spending this year?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, on the thematic issues, we are finalising our health spending across all areas, including sexual and reproductive health. I assure my noble friend at this juncture that this remains something I am very much focused on, not least in my role as the Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict.

Yemen

Baroness Sugg Excerpts

Thursday 25th March 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con) [V]]

My Lords, as I have already said, I respect the views expressed in your Lordships’ House on this important subject. I recognise that reductions have been made in our support through the cuts in ODA. Nevertheless, we continue to support humanitarian efforts in Yemen and the political efforts to bring about a peaceful settlement to this conflict.

[Baroness Sugg (Con)]

My Lords, one of the terrible consequences of the conflict in Yemen is the increase in child marriage. According to CARE International, more than two-thirds of girls are now married by the age of 18, as their families struggle to cope. The UK has long been a global champion and a leading donor in the efforts to end child marriage. Can the Minister tell me what we are doing to help the girls of Yemen, and give me any reassurance that the UK’s vital work to end child marriage will be protected from the cuts to international development spend?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con) [V]]

My Lords, my noble friend is right, and the United Kingdom stands firm in its opposition to the abhorrent practice of child marriage. We will continue to defend the rights of children, particularly young girls, who are vulnerable to this. That work will continue not just in Yemen but elsewhere. As I am sure my noble friend recognises, the access situation in Yemen is extremely challenging. Therefore, the political settlement must proceed, and then we can look forward to playing our part to ensure that the rights of every girl in Yemen and elsewhere are protected.

VSO: Volunteering for Development Programme

Baroness Sugg Excerpts

Tuesday 16th March 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con) [V]]

My Lords, I am afraid that that is not an announcement I am at liberty to make. However, as I said, it is in all our interests that the decision is taken as quickly as possible.

[Baroness Sugg (Con) [V]]

My Lords, it seems that unless it gets a decision in the next few weeks, VSO may be an early casualty of the aid cuts. The current law allows the Government to miss the 0.7% by accident or in an emergency; it does not allow the Government to plan and do this with intent for an indefinite number of years. It has now been nearly four months since the announcement, and we are seeing the real-world, distressing impacts of this policy. Can my noble friend the Minister tell me when we will see the legislation to make this policy lawful, and confirm that a vote will be held in both Houses?

[Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Con) [V]]

As my noble friend said, the legislation allows for the 0.7% target to not be met in a particular year in light of economic and fiscal circumstances. The Foreign Secretary is currently looking carefully at what is required by law. The legislation envisages that the 0.7% target may not be met in a particular year as a consequence of circumstances with which we are all too familiar.

Women’s Equality

Baroness Sugg Excerpts

Tuesday 9th March 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, when others on the world stage challenged the need for action on women’s sexual and reproductive health, the United Kingdom has been proud to defend comprehensive sexual and reproductive health rights, including at the UN Security Council, covering issues such as family planning. These are fundamental to empowerment and the health of girls and women. For example, between 2019 and 2020 alone, UK aid helped over 25 million women and girls access and use modern methods of contraception.

[Baroness Sugg (Con)]

My Lords, the Department for International Development had an impressive track record in promoting gender equality globally, thanks in part to its ground-breaking strategic vision for gender equality. Can my noble friend the Minister tell me if the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is committed to that strategic vision and, if not, how will it ensure that supporting women and girls is at the heart of what it does?

United States: Diplomatic Relations

Baroness Sugg Excerpts

Monday 1st March 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, your Lordships’ House is always an education for any Minister. I note very carefully what the right reverend Prelate has said. Partnerships are about ensuring that we play to the strengths of the partnerships we have, and that is what global Britain is all about.

[Baroness Sugg (Con) [V]]

My Lords, from sovereign equality to gender equality. We have seen some very welcome progress from President Biden’s Administration on sexual and reproductive health and rights. Does the Minister agree that we have a great opportunity to work closely in partnership with the United States in international development to make real progress on gender equality and SRHR? Specifically, can he say how the Government will make the most of this opportunity in the coming months and years?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, the short answer to my noble friend is yes. As the PSVI lead on preventing sexual violence I am looking forward to engaging with my US counterparts.