Asked by: Baroness Sugg (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to define the charity Karma Nirvana’s definition of honour-based abuse in statute.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Ensuring that 'honour'-based abuse (HBA) is well understood by frontline professionals, Government agencies, and impacted communities, is essential to preventing abuse, supporting victims and bringing perpetrators to justice.
Currently there is a definition of HBA used by the Criminal Justice System, but we recognise there is more that can be done to raise the level of consistency of understanding regarding HBA in Government and beyond and we are aware of the proposals for a statutory definition of HBA.
On 6 February 2025, the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls hosted a roundtable on HBA which was attended by multiple Government departments and specialist sector organisations, including Karma Nirvana. The question of what a statutory definition could look like was discussed at length. Home Office officials are working through the next steps following that discussion.
Asked by: Baroness Sugg (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what support they are providing to (1) grassroots organisations, (2) local non-governmental organisations, (3) international non-governmental organisations, and (4) development partners, who advocate for sexual and reproductive health and rights in the Philippines.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has supported efforts to advance sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in post-conflict areas of the Bangsamoro region, recognising that gender equality is essential to sustainable peace. The Integrated Security Fund Philippines programme has contributed to the development of the Bangsamoro Gender and Development Code and the Gender Ombud Guidelines, supported awareness-raising initiatives to end harmful practices such as child marriage, and worked with communities to strengthen the capacity of women's desks to provide better support for survivors of gender-based violence. The UK has also engaged with UNFPA to discuss how they can protect and promote SRHR in the Philippines further.
Asked by: Baroness Sugg (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what measures they are taking in their international development strategies to counter misinformation campaigns that target comprehensive sexuality and family planning education.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is proud to support universal and comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) for all. This includes support to address the additional barriers faced by adolescents and young people to ensure they can access the information, services and advice they need. The UK works in partnership with governments, civil society and community groups to do so. For example, in December 2024 the Prime Minister announced the Grassroots and Counter Rollback programme which aims to strengthen civil society organisations and movements to counter misinformation and expand access to SRHR.
The UK continues to provide strong political leadership in multilateral fora. We work to protect and progress language relating to adolescents' SRHR, including comprehensive sexuality education and family planning education. Meaningful engagement of young people is also a priority, and this year we will again include a young person as part of the UK delegation to the United Nations Commission on Population and Development.
Asked by: Baroness Sugg (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to ensure that bilateral and multilateral health aid remain condition-free, particularly in regard to sexual and reproductive health and rights programmes; and what plans they have to collaborate with other donor nations to maintain consistent funding flows to key agencies, such as the United National Population Fund and the World Health Organization.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is committed to promoting and defending universal and comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) including safe abortion. The UK firmly believes that supporting comprehensive SRHR through proven evidence based public health interventions saves lives and supports prosperity. We will continue to work with our partners, including UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and World Health Organisation (WHO), governments and civil society partners to deliver this and to ensure UK Aid programmes remain free of conditions that would restrict the freedom, rights and choices of women and girls.
The UK will continue to engage with other donor nations to progress and promote SRHR and work to diversify funding for key agencies.
In April, we will be holding a UK- UNFPA Strategic Dialogue as part of which we will discuss how we can best support their efforts towards long-term sustainable financing. This is also something we prioritise through our ODA investments, for example, through UK support to the UNFPA Supplies Partnership, we promote the mobilisation of countries' own domestic resources for reproductive health. The UK was also a key supporter of WHO's recent Investment Round pledging up to £310 million in flexible core voluntary contributions to support the WHO's work for the next 4 years (2024-2028). Flexible funding enables WHO to respond effectively to emerging health threats and priorities, by allocating resources where they are needed most and we encourage other donors to also provide predictable, flexible multi-year support.
Asked by: Baroness Sugg (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans Ministers have to attend the Global Disability Summit, due to be held in Berlin in April.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The 2025 Global Disability Summit is an important moment for the UK to reinforce our commitment to galvanising international efforts on disability inclusion and launch the refresh of our Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) Disability Inclusion and Rights strategy (2022-30), setting out new priorities. The Cabinet Office and the FCDO are working closely together to draw up the UK's delegation and final decisions will be made soon.
Asked by: Baroness Sugg (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to implement the FCDO disability inclusion and rights strategy 2022 to 2030, published on 16 February 2022, consistently across UK Official Development Assistance programmes.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The FCDO continues to take a 'twin track approach' including mainstreaming a disability inclusive and human rights perspective across all the department's work. For example, we will shortly launch new e-learning on how to use the disability inclusion and gender equality policy markers to make FCDO programmes more inclusive across the organisation. Our progress against the strategy is regularly reviewed by a board of independent experts from civil society and academia.
At the Global Disability Summit in April 2025, the FCDO will reinforce our commitment to galvanising international efforts on disability inclusion and launch the refresh of our FCDO Disability Inclusion and Rights strategy. Setting out new priorities, we will continue to provide targeted support to people with disabilities through high quality, targeted programmes to test new innovation and strengthen national systems that better reach people with disabilities. For example, this will include supporting inclusive approaches to education, health, and employment through our Disability Inclusive Development programme.
Asked by: Baroness Sugg (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Humanity and Inclusion report Beyond Access: Ensuring the Continuity of Education for Adolescent Girls with Disabilities, published on 24 January, what steps they are taking to promote continuity of education for adolescent girls with disabilities through development assistance.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The UK is working to tackle the barriers to accessing quality education that are faced by adolescent girls with disabilities, through our education policy and programmes.
In countries like Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe, UK development assistance has supported the implementation of disability-inclusive pedagogy in classrooms, funded assistive devices, and provided technical assistance to ministries of education, to develop and implement inclusive education policies. We are growing our understanding of what works to support learners with disabilities through our Disability Inclusive Development Programme.
At the Global Disability Summit in April 2025, the UK will reinforce its commitment to galvanising international efforts on disability inclusion, including specific actions on inclusive education, and will launch the refresh of our Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Disability Inclusion and Rights strategy.
Asked by: Baroness Sugg (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following Royal Assent to the Public Order Act 2023 on 2 May, when safe access zones will be implemented around abortion clinics in England and Wales.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Baroness Sugg (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government when safe access zones around abortion clinics will be implemented, following the granting of Royal Assent to the Public Order Act on 2 May 2023.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The timescales for commencing the new Section 9 offence of interference with access to, or provision of, abortion services will be confirmed in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Sugg (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many pregnant women were removed from the UK in accordance with immigration rules in each year from 2018 to 2022.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
We do not routinely publish this information, we are unable to provide this information, as it could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.