Chris Law

The Government defines key workers as those whose work are critical to the Coronavirus response. This includes those who work in the health and social care sectors, as well as in education and childcare, transport, food and delivery, utilities, communications, public safety, and the Government.

To assist retention, schools will provide essential support to the most vulnerable children and the children of those identified as key workers.

In addition, the Department of Health and Social Care is enhancing the capacity and flexible deployment of staff across essential services, for example:

• By allowing the temporary registration of recently retired NHS staff and social workers.
• By allowing retired staff to return to the NHS without a negative impact on their pension.
• By providing additional indemnity cover to key workers.

By protecting the employment rights of NHS volunteers.

Ensuring 12 years of quality education for all girls remains a UK priority. As the effects of the COVID-19 crisis play out, the impact on girls’ education is becoming increasingly clear. The UK’s response to the pandemic aims to tackle the preventative measures to girls returning to education by mitigating short term risks by focussing on safety, nutrition, wellbeing and learning whilst schools are closed; and supporting countries to protect and maintain education budgets in the longer term.

DFID is adapting its bilateral education programmes in 18 countries. The Global Partnership for Education, to which the UK is the largest donor, is flexing over £200 million to support education sector stability in response to the pandemic. The UK has also announced £20 million for UNICEF’s crisis appeal, which includes education, and a further £5 million to the Education Cannot Wait fund to support emergency education in fragile contexts.

The UK is proud to have raised $8.8 billion for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance at the Global Vaccine Summit on 4 June. This funding, which includes the UK’s world-leading £1.65 billion pledge, will support Gavi’s strategy to leave no one behind with immunisation over the next five years.

The UK’s central priority for Gavi is equity. Gavi immunises nearly half of the world’s children, and since 2000, has increased basic immunisation coverage levels in Gavi-supported countries from 59% to 80%. Despite increases in overall immunisation coverage levels, health systems in the poorest countries are still not reaching almost one in five children with a full course of basic vaccines.

These remaining pockets of under-immunised children are often the hardest to reach. The UK is working closely with Gavi to ensure that we remove barriers to immunisation for the most marginalised children. Gavi is working closely with its Alliance Partners, WHO and UNICEF, to adopt new strategies in-country to address gender, poverty, fragility and intra-country barriers to immunisation.

My officials continue to liaise with UN partners on all aspects of its COVID-19 response, including their work with NGOs and civil society organisations.

DFID welcomes the vital role that NGOs and civil society organisations will continue to play in service delivery through multilaterals. UN agencies have undertaken a review of their existing procedures related to partnership management and issued additional internal guidance to simplify and expedite collaboration where appropriate. We will be working with the UN and DFID’s country offices.

To date, the UK has committed £744 million of UK Aid to support global efforts to combat COVID-19. We are working with all our international partners to ensure aid is effectively distributed to vulnerable countries.

The UK is a key contributor to the UN’s Global Humanitarian Response Plan (GHRP), which focuses on humanitarian access, through securing the continuity of the supply chains for essential commodities and services, and supporting the most vulnerable, including protecting and assisting refugees, Internally Displaced Peoples, migrants and host communities.

We are co-leading work with Italy through the G7 to strengthen the resilience of vulnerable countries. A large part of this work is to ensure unhindered humanitarian access for vulnerable populations, and to make sure the global response is prioritising the most in need.

We are also using diplomatic channels to ensure that international humanitarian law and global commitments regarding the rights and protection of refugees and access to asylum are upheld in this crisis.

The UK is extremely concerned that Houthi restrictions and interference in the delivery of humanitarian assistance is now forcing humanitarian agencies, such as the World Food Programme, to scale back their assistance in northern Yemen. In line with United Nations Security Council Resolution 2451, we are calling on all parties to facilitate unhindered access for humanitarian actors and agencies and ensure that humanitarian workers are able to conduct their work safely and without harm.

Ministers and officials continue to engage closely with other donors and humanitarian agencies to ensure a coordinated international approach on how we adjust the way we all give aid, to ensure it gets to those in need.

As reported by the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Mark Lowcock, in his UN Security Council briefing of Monday 16 April, UN agencies estimate that they need more than $900 million to enable them to continue their operations in Yemen until July.

On Thursday 23 April, DFID’s acting Permanent Secretary discussed ways of improving humanitarian funding levels in Yemen with Mark Lowcock.

The Secretary of State also discussed Yemen funding with the Executive Director of the World Food Programme on Friday 17 April and UK officials remain in close contact with other major donors such as Saudi Arabia, the US and Germany.

The UK has, so far, pledged £744 million of UK aid to help end the COVID-19 pandemic as quickly as possible. This includes a package of £200 million to support UK charities and international organisations to help prevent infections and mitigate the impact of COVID-19 in developing countries, including maintaining essential health services.

DFID recognises strong and resilient health systems are vital to national and global health security and helping to protect the world from health threats, including COVID-19, and to maintaining the delivery of essential health services.

Through our multilateral partnerships, and our regional and national programmes, we support developing countries to make their health systems stronger and more resilient, and prepared to detect, prevent and respond to health threats, such as COVID-19.

There must be an explicit and visible consideration of, and support to, women and girls across DFID’s response to COVID-19. DFID has committed an additional £10 million to the United Nation’s Population Fund COVID-19 response to strengthen health systems to deliver sexual and reproductive health and gender-based violence services, support supply chains for lifesaving commodities and deliver community engagement activities. We also recently committed £20 million to the UN Children’s Fund to help keep children in developing countries safe and learning throughout the crisis. DFID has also launched a call for proposals under our Rapid Response Facility, which required all projects to mainstream gender, protection and safeguarding.

DFID is flexing existing programmes to ensure we can better respond to the specific impacts women and girls are facing as a result of COVID-19. For example, the Women's Integrated Sexual Health (WISH) programme is our flagship women’s sexual and reproductive health programme and provides lifesaving services to women in 27 countries around the world. WISH is finding innovative ways to keep delivering desperately-needed services and supplies during this pandemic, while also supporting efforts to stop the spread of the disease.

As Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance’s largest donor, the UK fully supports the Gavi 5.0 strategy for 2021-2015 to ‘leave no one behind with immunisation’. The UK has committed £1.65 billion, the equivalent of £330 million per year, to support Gavi’s goal to immunise a further 300 million children and save up to 8 million lives.

The UK is hosting the Global Vaccine Summit on 4 June, which will bring countries together to raise the funds required to save millions of lives. The Gavi replenishment period is vital to raise at least $7.4 billion to fund Gavi’s investment case for its next five years of work (2021-2025).

Gavi’s strategy for the next five years was approved by the Gavi Board in June 2019, with a focus on equity and increasing vaccination coverage to unreached and under-immunised children. Gavi is adapting its strategy to support countries’ responses to the impacts of COVID-19 on routine immunisation.

The Secretary of State announced the UK’s support to Gavi in Parliament on Wednesday 29 April. Our pledge of £1.65 billion to Gavi over the next five years. will immunise up to 75 million children against vaccine preventable diseases, strengthen health systems, build resilience against coronavirus and other diseases and support global access to any future coronavirus vaccine.

I refer my honourable friend to the answer to question 39671, on 1 May.

The UK government’s commitment to end the preventable deaths of mothers, new-born babies and children by 2030 is more essential now than ever given the COVID-19 outbreak. DFID is stepping up efforts to ensure sexual, reproductive, maternal and new-born health services continue to be prioritised in our response to the pandemic, to stop mothers and babies dying unnecessarily.

Globally we are working with agencies such as the World Health Organisation, UNFPA, the Partnership for Maternal New-born and Child Health and the Global Financing Facility (GFF) to support governments to maintain health systems in affected countries, provide technical guidance and advocate for sustained reproductive, maternal, new-born and child health services. This may include filling essential supply chain gaps and supporting frontline health workers. The UK supported the GFF Investors Group press release last week that called for strong, collective action to avoid a potential secondary health crisis from disruptions in health services from COVID-19.

The UK has committed £1.65 billion, the equivalent of £330 million per year, to support Gavi’s goal to immunise a further 300 million children and save up to 8 million lives. The UK is hosting the Global Vaccine Summit on 4 June, which will bring countries together to raise the funds required to save millions. The Gavi replenishment period is vital to raise at least $7.4 billion to fund Gavi’s investment case for its next five years of work (2021-2025).

Spend reported as Official Development Assistance (ODA) must meet the criteria set by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC). DFID receives a small non-ODA allocation from HMT for the known areas of spend we have that fall outside of the scope of ODA.

DFID collates and checks UK ODA spend data in reporting to the OECD DAC and in our National Statistics publication ‘Statistics on International Development’. The DAC Secretariat quality assures donors’ ODA spend to ensure that it is reported correctly and qualifies under the ODA rules.

As with all such Government events, the full costing will be available in due course. 2020 UK ODA spend, including for this Summit, will be reported in Statistics on International Development, published by DFID in Autumn 2021.

The UK supports improved health care for all communities in Rakhine through the multi-donor Access to Health Fund. We are clear that funding for Sittwe Hospital, provided as one part of this programme, must deliver improved access to healthcare for Rohingya people. We will not fund activities that further disadvantage this group.

Baroness Sugg raised the need for equal access to health treatment for all, when she met with the Rakhine State Health Director and the Union Minister of Health and Sport during her visit to Myanmar last autumn. This is in accordance with the Rakhine Advisory Commission recommendations. The UK will continue to raise this issue in discussions.

Statistics on International Development: Final UK Aid Spend 2020, published in the autumn, will contain detailed breakdowns of the UK's ODA spend for 2020 including bilateral UK ODA by recipient country and sector.

The decrease in 2020 ODA spend reflects the decrease in the size of the economy in 2020, therefore a decrease in the value of the 0.7 per cent commitment for 2020, as a result of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. UK aid spend on ODA programmes were reduced or cancelled in line with this decrease.

The Covid pandemic's economic impact has forced the government to take the difficult decision to temporarily reduce ODA to 0.5% of GNI. Despite this reduction, we will remain a world-leading ODA donor, spending around £10 billion on ODA in 2021-22. The Foreign Secretary has set out a strategic approach to ensure maximum impact for our aid spend for 2021-22, laying a Written Ministerial Statement for Parliament in January, summarising overall departmental cross-government allocations of ODA.

FCDO Ministers are currently working with officials to finalise ODA budget allocations for 2021/22. Final decisions have not yet been made, including on individual programmes.

UK aid provides life-saving humanitarian assistance to around 460,000 conflict affected and displaced people in Myanmar and on the Thai border. We have reviewed our aid programme in Myanmar to ensure that we focus on the most vulnerable people. We are closely monitoring the ongoing impacts of the military coup with our partners, including ethnic civil society organisations, so that our support continues to reach those most in need and can respond to new needs.

The UK is very concerned about the worsening situation in Karen state and other ethnic regions. In particular we note the repeated breaches of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement by the Tatmadaw in Karen state. We raised these issues at the Special Session of the Human Rights Council, which we convened with the EU on 12 February.

The UK has provided £2.6 million to support the Women Mediators across the Commonwealth Network since 2018, including £1 million in 2020/21. Funding for 2021/22 has not yet been confirmed. Despite the need to take tough but necessary decisions, including temporarily reducing the overall amount we spend on ODA, we remain committed to championing the full, equal and meaningful role of women in all aspects of peace and security.

As of 31 December 49.5% of FCDO full-time permanent staff are female.

As of 31 December 49.8% of FCDO temporary staff are female. Temporary staff includes staff on fixed term contracts, interchange from another Government department and secondments. The figure does not include contractors.

On 2 September 2020 the Department for International Development and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office merged to become the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. The data below for 2018 and 2019 is separated into DfID and FCO data. The data for 2020 is FCDO.

The data below is taken from 31 December for each of the three years.

For DfID in 2018 there were 1543 women in 2018 and 1517 women in 2019.

For FCO in 2018 and 2019 there were between 2000-2499 women.

As of 31 December 2020 there are between 3500 and 3999 women in the FCDO.

The review took place in September 2020 after the International Programme received confirmation of its revised allocation, including £8.4 million for the Gulf Strategy Fund. Both programmes over £1 million were applications by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office programming, including the International Programme (IP), was temporarily put on hold earlier this year owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, except where the programmes were directly responding to Covid-19 or National Security priorities. Following a Ministerial-led reprioritisation exercise in the summer of 2020, a revised allocation for the IP, which includes £8.4 million for the Gulf Strategy Fund was approved in September to be spent in the remainder of the financial year.

We do not disclose information related to individual Integrated Activity Fund projects to maintain the confidence and confidentiality of our Gulf partners.

The COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC) aims to provide 1 billion doses for high-risk populations in up to 92 developing countries in 2021, at the same pace as for richer countries. The UK has committed up to £548 million in Official Development Assistance (ODA) to the COVAX AMC. Through this investment, the UK is supporting the fair and equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines for up to 500 million people in low and middle-income countries during 2021. We have made our financial commitment early precisely to ensure that there will be supplies for AMC countries once safe and effective vaccines are available.

The COVAX AMC is the only ODA mechanism investing in expanding the supply of a portfolio of vaccines explicitly for use in developing countries. It provides the highest chance of successfully securing access for these countries during 2021, regardless of any country's bilateral deals.

I refer the Honourable Member to my response of 27 October to question 106365.

We do not disclose information related to Integrated Activity Fund projects to maintain the confidence and confidentiality of our Gulf partners.

Six Integrated Activity Fund applications over £1 million were approved in 2019/20. Six programme applications over £1 million were originally made to the 2020/21 Gulf Strategy Fund by the Foreign and Commonwealth office, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Four applications were approved. Currently only two programmes over £1 million will be delivered in 2020/21 following an in-year review of Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office programme budgets.

During the 2019/20 financial year the Integrated Activity Fund, now named the Gulf Strategy Fund, received applications for funding from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, the Crown Prosecution Service, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Department for International Trade, the Department of Health, the Home Office, HM Revenue and Customs and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

The UK will participate in the G20 Summit, which is likely to focus on health, the global economic recovery and wider global challenges (including climate change, trade and development). It is a key part of international planning for a sustainable recovery from coronavirus. As current G20 President, Saudi Arabia will play a vital role in coordinating the global health and economic response. We hope that the international platform provided by the G20 Presidency encourages continued progress on domestic reforms.

Our close relationship with Saudi Arabia allows us to raise our concerns about human rights, including on political detainees, in private and in public. We have expressed significant concerns about reports of continuing arrests and arbitrary detentions in Saudi Arabia. We raise concerns about individual cases regularly, using a range of Ministerial and diplomatic channels, including our Embassy in Riyadh. The UK signed a statement at the UN Human Rights Council on 15 September. It noted our human rights concerns in Saudi Arabia, regretted the continued detention of at least five women's human rights defenders, arrested in 2018, and called for the release of all political detainees. We continue to raise concerns at all levels and are monitoring the situation closely.

The UK will participate in the G20 Summit, which is likely to focus on health, the global economic recovery and wider global challenges (including climate change, trade and development). It is a key part of international planning for a sustainable recovery from coronavirus. As current G20 President, Saudi Arabia will play a vital role in coordinating the global health and economic response. We hope that the international platform provided by the G20 Presidency encourages continued progress on domestic reforms.

Our close relationship with Saudi Arabia allows us to raise our concerns about human rights, including on political detainees, in private and in public. We have expressed significant concerns about reports of continuing arrests and arbitrary detentions in Saudi Arabia. We raise concerns about individual cases regularly, using a range of Ministerial and diplomatic channels, including our Embassy in Riyadh. The UK signed a statement at the UN Human Rights Council on 15 September. It noted our human rights concerns in Saudi Arabia, regretted the continued detention of at least five women's human rights defenders, arrested in 2018, and called for the release of all political detainees. We continue to raise concerns at all levels and are monitoring the situation closely.

We hold regular discussions with the Chinese Government and the Hong Kong authorities about the situation in Hong Kong. Both are well aware of our serious concerns about the National Security Law, and we will continue to raise these concerns at senior levels with the Chinese and Hong Kong administrations.

We are not aware of any discussions by representatives of (a) the Government and (b) non-departmental public bodies with the Hong Kong or Chinese Governments on the provision of training to members of the police and other law enforcement bodies in Hong Kong since January 2019.

We hold regular discussions with the Chinese Government and the Hong Kong authorities about the situation in Hong Kong. Both are well aware of our serious concerns about the National Security Law, and we will continue to raise these concerns at senior levels with the Chinese and Hong Kong administrations.

We are extremely concerned by the capacity of the Yemen's healthcare system to respond to the threat of a second wave of COVID-19 and continue to disburse our £200 million aid commitment for this financial year (2020/21) promptly to help the UN's response. Ultimately, a permanent ceasefire and co-operation with the UN-led political process is the best defence we have against COVID-19 in Yemen. We continue to call on all parties to the conflict to engage constructively with the peace process.

Advancing gender equality and women's rights are a core part of the UK Government's mission, and Global Britain's role as a force for good in the world. For example, between 2015 and 2020, we supported 8.1 million girls gain access to a decent education, and in 2019-20 alone we provided 25.4 million women and girls with modern methods of family planning, saving thousands of lives. The Government remains steadfast in its commitment to this agenda.

As the Foreign Secretary set out in his speech at the United Nations General Assembly on the 1 October, the UK is working with our international partners to ensure gender equality is a central element of the COVID-19 recovery. The FCDO will continue to champion 12 years of quality education for every girl in the world.

This October marks the 20th anniversary of UN Security Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, next year the UK will take up Presidency of the G7 and COP26, and the UK is already co-leading the new global Generation Equality Action Coalition on gender-based violence to mark the 25th Anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action on Gender Equality. All these represent moments for the UK to champion gender equality

The UK is a signatory to the Grand Bargain and the Good Humanitarian Donorship Principles, which make explicit commitments on localisation, and the UK's Humanitarian Reform Policy recognises national and local organisations and communities as first responders to disasters. We also recognise the value local and national actors have brought to COVID-19 response, playing a critical role in meeting humanitarian needs on the ground in the face of unprecedented challenges.

The UK continues to be one of the biggest humanitarian donors globally. We have been one the largest donors to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs' (UNOCHA) Country-Based Pooled Funds (CBPF). The CBPF is one platform that channels funding to local and national actors and in 2019, they allocated a quarter of their resources to local and national partners.

More broadly, the UK continues to invest in initiatives to support localisation, including the creation of the Start Network, Humanitarian Learning Academy, and the Humanitarian to Humanitarian (H2H) Network, among others.

As the Foreign Secretary said in his speech to the United Nations General Assembly on the 1 October, we must use this moment as a catalyst for change, so that all women and girls have equal rights, so that they can fulfil their potential. Global Britain is proud to be a force for good in the world, holding up democracy and human rights as our guiding lights.

As part of the launch of the new FCDO, we will refresh and build on existing strategies, as well as develop new approaches, but we do not see the core ambitions of the Strategic Vision for Gender Equality changing. The challenges of advancing girls' education, sexual reproductive health and rights (SRHR), women's political empowerment, women's economic empowerment advancing the Women Peace and Security agenda, tackling and ending violence against women and girls (VAWG) including conflict related sexual violence, are as acute now, if not more so, as when we published the strategy in 2018.

On 1 September 2020, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office employed between 7500 and 7999 Home Civil Service and Diplomatic Service Staff, and between 9000 and 9499 Locally Employed Staff and Staff Appointed in Country.

As of 30 June 2020, the proportion of staff who identified as BAME employed by the Department for International Development was 15%. This figure is for Home Civil Service staff only.

As of 30 June 2020, the proportion of staff who identified as BAME employed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office was 17%. This figure is for Home Civil Service and Diplomatic Service staff only.

As of 30 June 2020, the proportion of staff who identified as BAME employed by the Department for International Development was 15%. This figure is for Home Civil Service staff only.

As of 30 June 2020, the proportion of staff who identified as BAME employed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office was 17%. This figure is for Home Civil Service and Diplomatic Service staff only.

The total number of staff employed by Department for International Development prior to the announcement of the merger was 3414 (2655 UK based staff and 759 Staff Appointed In Country (SAIC)). The data extract closest to the reference date of 16th June 2020 is 30th June 2020.

On 31 May 2020, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office employed between 5000 and 5499 UK Based staff and between 8000 and 8499 Locally Employed staff.

The UK has played a leading role at the Human Rights Council in registering the breadth and depth of international concern about the situation of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, and will continue to do so. Most recently, on 30 June, the UK read out a formal statement on behalf of 28 countries at the 44th session of the UN Human Rights Council highlighting arbitrary detention, widespread surveillance and restrictions, particularly those targeting Uyghurs and other minorities, and urging China to allow the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights meaningful access to Xinjiang.

On 6 July, the UK Government established the Global Human Rights ('Magnitsky') sanctions regime by laying regulations in Parliament. This sanctions regime enables the UK to hold to account those involved in serious human rights violations or abuses. It is not appropriate to speculate who may be designated under the sanctions regime in the future, as to do so could reduce the impact of the designations. We keep all evidence and potential listings under close review.

During the recent visit to the UK of Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, I raised the use of the death penalty in Bahrain, reiterating the UK's opposition to the death penalty, in all circumstances, as a matter of principle. Separately, the Minister for Human Rights, Lord Ahmad, raised the cases of Mohammed Ramadhan and Husain Moosa.

The UK does not provide Official Development Assistance to Bahrain. The technical assistance we provide is kept under regular review to ensure compliance with our human rights obligations and the Overseas Security and Justice Assistance process.

We are aware of the Bar Human Rights Committee report published on 22 July. We are carefully considering its findings. We regularly raise our serious concerns about the human rights situation in Xinjiang, including at the UN Human Rights Council on 30 June.

We are aware of the Bar Human Rights Committee report published on 22 July. We are carefully considering its findings. We regularly raise our serious concerns about the human rights situation in Xinjiang, including at the UN Human Rights Council on 30 June.

The Integrated Review will be a wholescale reassessment of our foreign, defence, security and development policy. The Review will define and strengthen Britain's place in the world at a time when the global landscape is changing dramatically. We will consult inside and outside Government, ensuring some of the UK's best minds are feeding into its conclusions and challenging traditional Whitehall assumptions and thinking.

The Government continues to champion girls' education through the 'Leave No Girl Behind' campaign, and at the UN General Assembly in September 2019, the Prime Minister announced £515 million to provide over 12 million children - half of them girls - with a decent education. We will continue to lead the way globally on preventing and responding to all forms of gender-based violence. The Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) International Conference - Time For Justice: Putting Survivors First, will bring together countries from around the world to focus on justice and accountability.

As we conduct the Integrated Review our guiding lights will remain the values of free trade, liberal democracy, human rights and the international rule of law - values for which we are respected the world over. We want to ensure we are a force for good in the world. This means championing basic human rights.

Our most recent assessment was published as part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's (FCO) Human Rights and Democracy Report in June 2019. Bahrain remains an FCO human rights priority country, particularly because of the use of the death penalty, allegations of torture and mistreatment in detention and concerns over freedom of expression and assembly. We monitor events in Bahrain closely and continue to encourage the Government of Bahrain to deliver on its international and domestic human rights commitments.

There have not been any discussions with the University of Huddersfield about its provision of an MSc in Security Science exclusively to students at the Royal Academy of Policing.

The British Government remains concerned by the ongoing trial of the Büyükada group of human rights defenders (HRDs) in Turkey. We have been closely following the case since it first came to court in 2017. We note the next hearing is on 19 February. As a modern democracy we expect Turkey to undertake any legal processes fairly, transparently and with full respect for the rule of law and we consistently reiterate this message to our Turkish counterparts at all levels.

We have long encouraged Turkey to work towards the full protection of fundamental rights, particularly in the area of freedom of expression. On 28 January at the 35th Universal Periodic Review on Human Rights, one of the recommendations that the United Kingdom put forward for Turkey is protecting freedom of expression, including for journalists and human rights defenders, by decriminalising defamation. We will continue to engage the Turkish Government on these issues and be clear in our expectation that Turkey live up to its human rights obligations, which is essential to the long-term health of Turkish democracy.

The British Government monitors programmes and projects under the Integrated Activity Fund throughout the project life-cycle to ensure that they are on track to deliver expected outcomes.

The budget for the Integrated Activity Fund for 2020-21 was agreed as part of the 2019 Spending Round which was presented to Parliament by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in September 2019.

We published our assessment of the human rights situation in Bahrain in the annual Foreign and Commonwealth Office Human Rights Report, most recently in June 2019.

We continue to monitor the cases of Hassan Mushaima and Abduljalil al-Singace. We have raised these cases at senior levels with the Bahraini Government. The Government of Bahrain has been clear in public statements that access to medical care, including dental, for those in detention is guaranteed by the Constitution of Bahrain.

We encourage those with concerns about treatment in detention to raise them with the appropriate Bahraini human rights oversight body. We continue to encourage the oversight bodies in Bahrain to carry out thorough and swift investigations into any such claims.

​Bahrain has brought in new legislation related to alternative sentencing and has started to implement provisions under this new legal framework. British expertise has supported this process, and we welcome this positive move in reforming the judicial system. There are clear provisions in place regarding eligibility of detainees for alternative sentencing. We continue to follow the cases of Nabeel Rajab and Hajer Mansoor. Medina Ali received a Royal pardon in December 2019.

​The Integrated Activity Fund will have a budget of £20 million for the financial year 2020/21. Budget allocations beyond 2020/21 will be agreed as part of the forthcoming Spending Review.

​The Integrated Activity Fund provides funding in support of a range of programmes across the Gulf Region. These include, but are not limited to, activities focusing on aquaculture, sport and culture, healthcare and institutional capacity building. All of our work is in line with international standards and aims to share the UK's expertise and experience.

​The allocated budget for the Integrated Activity Fund for the 2019/20 financial year is £20 million. Final spend is projected to be £13.9 million.

​Overall spend from the Integrated Activity Fund (IAF) in 2018/19 financial year was £17.08 million. The IAF funded activity in all six Gulf Cooperation Council states: Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. Many of the projects and programme activities were delivered regionally, so it is not possible to provide a breakdown by beneficiary state.

The UK Government continues to be concerned about the many journalists and political prisoners who are incarcerated in Myanmar. Myanmar's laws on freedom of expression remain oppressive and are used, particularly by the military, to imprison opponents. In September 2018, , the former Foreign Secretary raised the cases of the two imprisoned Reuters journalists with Aung San Suu Kyi. They were released in May 2019. The British Ambassador continues to raise the issue of political prisoners with other Myanmar Ministers as well as urging reform of repressive legislation.

We offer advice and support on working with responsible local partners and encourage all British companies to undertake their own due diligence on any investment projects. We continue to work with trusted organisations, such as the Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business, to encourage businesses in Myanmar, including UK businesses, to invest responsibly and conduct appropriate due diligence.

Decisions to enter business relationships are the responsibility of the company , as is ensuring they are legally compliant.

As the recent UN Fact Finding Mission report sets out, the Myanmar Military and companies linked to it are entrenched across the economy. Some of the relationships are opaque, and being clear about the precise details of ownership of a company or infrastructure is sometimes very difficult. Following the publication of the UN Fact Finding Mission report, the British Embassy has met regularly with British companies and stressed the importance of undertaking robust due diligence.

In order to decide if a case has been incorrectly refused, HMRC must obtain evidence of alleged errors and investigate them. Cases differ widely, and the time taken to resolve a case will vary depending on the circumstances and complexity.

HMRC have received a total of 7,293 complaints (up to 4 February 2021) relating to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. Of this figure, 374 have been upheld, 225 have been partially upheld, and 5,579 have been rejected. A further 1,115 claims are currently being investigated.

In order to decide if a case has been incorrectly refused, HMRC must obtain evidence of alleged errors and investigate them. Cases differ widely, and the time taken to resolve a case will vary depending on the circumstances and complexity.

HMRC have received a total of 7,293 complaints (up to 4 February 2021) relating to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. Of this figure, 374 have been upheld, 225 have been partially upheld, and 5,579 have been rejected. A further 1,115 claims are currently being investigated.

In order to decide if a case has been incorrectly refused, HMRC must obtain evidence of alleged errors and investigate them. Cases differ widely, and the time taken to resolve a case will vary depending on the circumstances and complexity.

HMRC have received a total of 7,293 complaints (up to 4 February 2021) relating to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. Of this figure, 374 have been upheld, 225 have been partially upheld, and 5,579 have been rejected. A further 1,115 claims are currently being investigated.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are aware of 15 contractors who have used disguised remuneration (DR) schemes while engaged either by the department or by Revenue & Customs Digital Technology Services (RCDTS). In each of the cases, the contractors were engaged via an agency or a company providing a service.

HMRC do not engage in, or enter into, disguised remuneration schemes. It is possible for a contractor providing services to HMRC to use a disguised remuneration scheme without the department’s knowledge or participation. Where HMRC become aware of a contractor who is using a disguised remuneration scheme, they take robust compliance action, including the immediate termination of the engagement. Any contractor identified in the course of HMRC’s compliance work as a scheme user would be investigated in the same way as any other contractor.

HMRC are currently preparing a report to Parliament on the implementation of the independent Loan Charge Review, which is due imminently. The report will include figures up to the 30 September 2020 deadline for taxpayers who settled their use of disguised remuneration tax avoidance schemes.

HMRC do not want to make anybody bankrupt, and insolvency is only ever considered as a last resort. HMRC will work with individuals to reach sustainable and manageable payment plans wherever possible. In line with current practice, HMRC will pause recovery action where a taxpayer has no ability to pay, until there is a significant change of circumstance.

HMRC are not always the only creditor and some individuals may choose to enter insolvency themselves based on their overall financial position.

Anyone who is worried about being able to pay what they owe is encouraged to get in touch with HMRC as soon as possible on 03000 599110.

To date, the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) has supported 43 countries which have requested suspensions by freeing up $5 billion to fund their COVID-19 responses. Given the depth of liquidity needs in these countries, the Chancellor supports an extension of the DSSI into 2021 and is working with his G20 counterparts to secure agreement on the extension.

The G20 agreed private sector DSSI participation should be voluntary and at borrowers’ discretion. The Chancellor continues to support this approach, which helps protect these countries’ hard-won market access which will be essential for financing COVID recovery. Where borrowers do make requests, private creditors should implement the DSSI. Where sovereign debt reductions are necessary, it will be important for there to be fair and timely burden sharing between all creditor types, including commercial creditors.

The G20 has supported the Multilateral Development Banks taking a “net positive flows” approach to complement the DSSI, ensuring that borrowing countries receive significantly more funds from the MDBs in 2020 than they repay. For the poorest countries, much of this funding will be on grant terms. This helps ensure the financial model of the MDBs remains sustainable, while allowing donors to target resources to support the most vulnerable countries.

As mentioned in my reply to you on 30 June, the government regularly discusses with departments the ODA funding allocated to projects, in order to ensure delivery of its commitment to spend 0.7% of GNI on Official Development Assistance (ODA).

Since this commitment is linked to the size of the economy, the level of ODA spend is likely to decrease this year, and therefore commitments of aid spending are being reviewed across all departments.

The UK has a legal commitment to spend 0.7% of its gross national income (GNI) each year on Official Development Assistance (ODA). Given the expected fall in GNI this year, commitments of aid spending are being reviewed across all departments.

HM Treasury allocates ODA budgets to departments and is responsible for decisions on changes to these. Departments are responsible for assessing and assuring the impact and value for money of their ODA programmes on an ongoing basis in line with Managing Public Money. HM Treasury take evidence-based spending decisions and ensure departments maintain high standards of programme delivery that are consistent with HMG best practice.

The UK has a legal commitment to spend 0.7% of its gross national income (GNI) each year on Official Development Assistance (ODA). The government reviews the ODA funding it allocates to projects on a regular basis in order to ensure delivery of its commitment to spend 0.7% of GNI on ODA. Since this commitment is linked to the size of the economy, the level of ODA spend is likely to decrease this year, and therefore commitments of aid spending are being reviewed across all departments.

HM Treasury allocates ODA budgets to departments and is responsible for decisions on changes to these. We take evidence-based spending decisions and ensure departments maintain high standards of programme delivery that are consistent with HMG best practice.

Key workers across the country have already demonstrated their courage and resolve by supporting the public during this difficult time. It is vital that public and other essential services have the workers they need going forward.

The Government is considering appropriate measures to ensure that the public continues to have access to essential services during the COVID-19 outbreak.

For public services, HM Treasury is working closely with departments to take appropriate action so that workforces have the staff they need. Departments will announce measures as soon as they have been agreed.

The Government is also amending pension rules where necessary to remove barriers to retired workers returning to work, including for the NHS, which have already been announced.

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) undertakes an annual review of frozen assets in the UK, requiring all persons or institutions that hold or control frozen assets in the UK to report to OFSI. Details of assets reported to OFSI in 2019 are not yet available and will be published in OFSI’s 2019-2020 Annual Review.

Details of assets reported to OFSI in 2018 were published in OFSI’s 2018-2019 Annual Review. As of September 2018, £11.9 billion of frozen funds across all regimes were reported to be held by UK institutions. This figure is provided on an aggregate basis so as not to indirectly disclose the value of funds held by particular individuals.

Since its inception in 2018, 158 women in the Ministry of Defence have participated, or are participating, in the Crossing Thresholds programme. The Positive Action Pathway is currently being redesigned by Civil Service Learning and is no longer running; however, 134 civilian staff took part in the scheme from when it began in 2018 until it was suspended for redesign.

The UK has eight Armed Forces personnel based between Muharraq Air Base and Headquarters Maritime Component Commander in Bahrain. These personnel form the UK Joint Support Detachment and belong to the UK Maritime Component Commander and the UK Air Component Commander. They fulfil a variety of roles to facilitate the entry and departure of UK personnel and stores from Bahrain under Operation KIPION, including postal services and logistics movements. The cost of supporting these personnel in Bahrain was approximately £270,000 during financial year 2019-20