Christian Matheson

CDC is an investor in Skanray Technologies Private Limited through the investment fund Ascent India Fund III managed by Ascent Capital Advisors Private Limited. The investment was made by the fund manager in 2013 with the purpose of expanding access to medical equipment in India and across South Asia. CDC continues to work closely with the company which is exploring options to scale-up its production capacity of ventilators in support of the public health response to Covid-19 in India.

The UK is at the forefront of efforts to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. At the G20 last month, the Prime Minister called on all governments to work together to develop a vaccine as quickly as possible and make it globally available.

MedAccess, initially called the Credit Facility for Access to Medicines, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of CDC, the UK’s Development Finance Institution, which in turn is owned and funded by DFID. MedAccess provides ‘volume guarantees’ to manufacturers to stimulate production and increase the availability and affordability of medical supplies in developing country markets across Africa and Asia. It has a track record of success with viral testing kits to combat HIV and insecticide treated bednets to combat malaria. MedAccess is in discussions with UN agencies and manufacturers to establish whether it can provide financial guarantees to increase production and enable more rapid procurement of much needed medical supplies at affordable prices to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic in low- and middle-income countries.

The UK has pledged £744 million to support the global humanitarian response to COVID-19, including in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs). We have delivered additional vital support in the OPTs by providing £840,000 to World Health Organisation and UNICEF to purchase and co-ordinate the delivery of medical equipment, treat critical care patients, train frontline public health personnel and scale up laboratory testing capacity.

The UN assesses that although the current number of detected cases remains relatively low, the capacity of the Palestinian health system to cope with an expected increase in COVID-19 cases is poor. The situation is particularly severe in Gaza, where the health system has shortages in specialised staff, drugs and equipment. We continue to monitor the situation and are working closely with the UN and the international community to ensure a co-ordinated response.

There are currently two known cases of COVID-19 in Gaza. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has delivered essential equipment such as lab testing kits and personal protective equipment and has used DFID-funded Trauma Stabilisation Tents to quarantine suspected COVID-19 patients at the Rafah border crossing. UN agencies are supporting further measures such as the establishment of a field hospital and the creation of a medical checkpoint at the Erez border crossing.

A widespread outbreak of the virus could overwhelm Gaza’s already overburdened health system - especially given the lack of reliable access to clean water and energy in the strip. We continue to monitor the situation and are working closely with the UN and the international community to ensure agencies are ready to respond to an outbreak.

The Department for International Development (DFID) recognises strong and resilient national health systems are vital to global health security and helping to protect the world from infectious diseases, including COVID-19.

Through our multilateral partnerships, and our regional and national programmes, we support low-income countries to make their health systems, including primary healthcare, stronger and more resilient, and able to prevent, detect and respond to health threats, such as COVID-19.

UK aid has a longstanding record of global support to countries to prepare for large disease outbreaks. DFID provides continued and additional support to the World Health Organization (WHO) and other UN agencies, using their leadership role, through providing technical assistance, setting norms and standards and tracking progress to help countries address key Health System Strengthening bottlenecks.

The Department of Health and Social Care’s £21 million International Health Regulations (IHR) Strengthening Project builds capacity in six countries across Africa and Asia to enable them to observe the IHRs and better enable them to prevent, detect and respond to infectious disease threats.

In addition to the UK’s significant annual funding to the WHO of around £120 million, the UK has committed an additional £10 million to the WHO’s Emergency Flash Appeal through to April and additional funding for other international partners who are helping developing countries develop and deliver their own response to the virus. We are pressing WHO and the UN to develop a follow-up consolidated appeal to address the COVID-19 health and priority secondary impacts developing countries.

While our approach to negotiations will vary between partners, it will always allow HM Government to have open discussions on a range of important issues, including human rights. We have a strong history of safeguarding rights globally and will not compromise our high standards in trade agreements.

The UK routinely updates our guidance to British businesses on the Overseas Business Risk website. This is voluntary guidance to British businesses. Ultimately it will be the decision of an individual or company whether to operate in occupied territories.

The settlements are not covered by the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which currently governs our trade with Israel, nor by the UK-Israel Trade and Partnership Agreement, which will enter into force at the end of the Transition Period. We are committed to maintaining this position.

The UK Government is concerned about the impact of recent Israeli trade restrictions. UK businesses should be free to import Palestinian products without barriers. Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Israel raised this issue with the Government of Israel, most recently on 12 February. We welcome the agreement reached by the Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority, on 20 February, to lift their respective trade restrictions. We urge both sides to ensure the swift implementation of this agreement.

Portugal was added to the travel corridor list on 22 August.

The Government takes a range of factors into account when deciding which countries to add or remove from the Travel Corridor list. This includes:

• an estimate of the proportion of the population that is currently infectious in each country
• virus incidence rates and rates of change
• trends in incidence and deaths
• transmission status and international epidemic intelligence
• information on a country’s testing capacity, testing regime and test positivity rate
• an assessment of the quality of the data available
• effectiveness of measures being deployed by a country
• volume of travel between the UK and that country

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We recognise how important travel and tourism is for the Maldives. However, inbound travel from the Maldives presents a high risk to the UK given continued elevated incidence of COVID-19 indicating community transmission of the virus. The Government keeps the list of travel corridors under constant review. We will make further exemptions when we are sure that we can do so safely and responsibly.

Latvia was added to the Travel Corridor list on 28 July 2020.

The information requested is not available because claimants who naturally migrate to Universal Credit will do so because they will have had a significant change in their circumstances which previously would have led to a new claim to another existing benefit. In these situations, it has always been the case that the assessment of their new benefit will be based on their new circumstances and under the rules of their new benefit. We do not centrally collate the number of claimants that have made a new claim to Universal Credit as a result of such a change in circumstances.

For people considering claiming Universal Credit, we have updated our information on gov.uk and on understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk where links to independent benefit calculators can also be found.

NHS England and NHS Improvement are asking stakeholders and voluntary and third sector partners to encourage people who have a severe and profound learning disability to come forward to their local general practitioner (GP). GPs should then assess the individual and if appropriate, add them to the list to be offered a vaccine.

We have not made a formal estimate.

In England, Public Health England publish daily data on the total first and second doses given to date by region of residence. NHS England and NHS Improvement release a weekly publication of vaccination data across additional cohorts, which from 25 February 2021 includes data by parliamentary constituency and by Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships / Integrated Care Systems area.

This data is available via the following links:

https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/vaccinations

www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/covid-19-vaccinations/

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) are an independent expert advisory committee which advise the Government on vaccination. The JCVI advised that the priority for the first phase of the COVID-19 vaccination programme should be the prevention of mortality from COVID-19. The JCVI have advised that adults with severe and profound learning difficulties should be prioritised for vaccine in the first phase of the programme.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) are the independent experts who advise the Government on which vaccines the United Kingdom should use and provide advice on prioritisation of a COVID-19 vaccine at a population level.  For the first phase, the JCVI has advised that the vaccine be given to care home residents and staff, as well as frontline health and social care workers, then to the rest of the population in order of age and clinical risk factors which includes people who are clinically extremely vulnerable and/or have underlying health conditions. Adults with severe or profound learning difficulties are considered to be ‘at risk’ and adults with Down’s syndrome are included as priorities the first phase.

UK ministers and senior officials regularly raise human rights issues, as well as specific cases of concern, with the Colombian Government. The UK's Minister for the Environment, Lord Goldsmith, raised our concerns around violence and threats toward environmental defenders on a visit to Colombia from 5-8 October.

Colombia is a UK 'Human Rights Priority Country' and we consistently raise our concerns regarding violence against human rights defenders and social leaders at the UN Security Council, as we did at meetings in July and on 14 October. We will continue to raise our concerns with the relevant state actors in Colombia.

Through our Conflict, Stability, and Security Fund (CSSF) programme, which has provided £63 million in support of peace agreement implementation, security, and stability in Colombia since 2015, we will continue to prioritise funding interventions to protect human rights defenders, including environmental activists, and social leaders.

UK ministers and senior officials regularly raise human rights issues, as well as specific cases of concern, with the Colombian Government. The UK's Minister for the Environment, Lord Goldsmith, raised our concerns around violence and threats toward environmental defenders on a visit to Colombia from 5-8 October.

Colombia is a UK 'Human Rights Priority Country' and we consistently raise our concerns regarding violence against human rights defenders and social leaders at the UN Security Council, as we did at meetings in July and on 14 October. We will continue to raise our concerns with the relevant state actors in Colombia.

Through our Conflict, Stability, and Security Fund (CSSF) programme, which has provided £63 million in support of peace agreement implementation, security, and stability in Colombia since 2015, we will continue to prioritise funding interventions to protect human rights defenders, including environmental activists, and social leaders.

As set out in the FCDO Annual Human Rights Report, we expect British businesses to respect local and international law wherever they operate.

The UK was the first country to create a National Action Plan to implement the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. This plan sets out what is expected of the conduct of UK businesses, including compliance with relevant laws and respect for human rights; treating the risk of causing human rights abuses as a legal compliance issue; adopting appropriate due diligence policies; and consulting those who could potentially be affected.

We are working closely with our partners on the impacts and priorities of our Official Development Assistance (ODA) spend, including through roundtables with Civil Society Organisations such as one recently chaired by Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon. Country Plans will also be informed by consultation with partner governments and other partners on key priorities.

As with any major fiscal event, it is right the outcome of the process is formally communicated to Parliament first. We will work closely with our partners and suppliers to explain how this will impact our joint work.

Addressing malnutrition and acute food insecurity remains important for our objectives on global health and humanitarian preparedness and response. In September 2020, the Foreign Secretary announced a £119 million package of support to combat famine and acute hunger. This includes a new 5-year partnership with UNICEF to improve prevention and treatment of acute malnutrition.

The Department is beginning a rigorous internal prioritisation process in response to the spending review announcement and we will update on this in due course.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer regularly meets with parliamentary colleagues and has answered questions on this issue in the House.

The Government has recently announced further measures as part of the comprehensive economic response, taking unprecedented steps to support families, businesses and the most vulnerable. The fiscal response so far totals £160bn.

As well as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS), this package includes a comprehensive set of Government-backed loans and grants to businesses, tax deferrals, rental support and mortgage and consumer credit holidays.

This package also includes extra funding for the welfare safety net, in order to help those unable to access other forms of support to get through the coronavirus outbreak. The temporary welfare measures include increases to Universal Credit and Local Housing Allowance, a relaxation of the Universal Credit minimum income floor and making Statutory Sick Pay easier to access.

The Government’s Plan for Jobs will support, protect and create jobs. This plan will make available up to £30bn to help kickstart the nation’s economic recovery ahead of a fuller package of medium-term recovery measures in the forthcoming Autumn Budget and Spending Review.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) are responsible for the collection of statistics on goods imported to and exported from the United Kingdom, which are published on a monthly basis as the Overseas Trade Statistics.

The value (GB pounds sterling) of goods imported into the UK from the occupied Palestinian Territories in calendar years 2017, 2018 and 2019 is as follows:

Source: HMRC – UK Overseas Trade Statistics (extracted from uktradeinfo.com).

The information requested is not available.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) are responsible for the collection of statistics on goods imported to and exported from the United Kingdom, including (separately) those to and from Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. However, HMRC do not produce estimates or hold data on goods imported into the UK from Israel that were produced in Israeli settlements of the occupied Palestinian Territories.

As sponsoring Minister for an inquiry, it is not uncommon to receive queries and correspondence regarding the progress of an inquiry. Representations with regards to the content of the report would be a matter for the Independent Panel.

The Home Secretary is kept up to date on the work of the Panel and her responsibilities by her officials, and meets with them when required.

As sponsoring Minister for an inquiry, it is not uncommon to receive queries and correspondence regarding the progress of an inquiry. Representations with regards to the content of the report would be a matter for the Independent Panel.

The Home Secretary is kept up to date on the work of the Panel and her responsibilities by her officials, and meets with them when required.

The UK keeps its visa system under regular review. Decisions on changes are always taken in the round, and reflect key facets of the bilateral relationship with the country concerned. These will vary globally, but often include security, compliance, returns, and prosperity.

There are no current plans to change the visa requirements for citizens of Columbia.

A range of criteria informed the development of the introduction of new health measures at the border, including the urgent requirement to protect our progress in countering the spread of the virus and reducing the risk of a second wave whilst doing all we can to protect vital supply chains and infrastructure work.

It is unfortunately unavoidable there will be an economic impact in the UK if we are to take necessary steps like this to protect public health and save lives.

The Government has committed to keeping the border health measures under regular review to ensure they remain effective and proportionate.

The Home Office does not hold information on how many individuals were reported to the Police due to suspected involvement with a climate activist group. This level of data is held by the Police who are operationally independent from the Home Office.

Counter Terrorism Policing Headquarters have categorically stated they do not classify involvement with a climate activist group as extremism and stated that the inclusion of them in Counter Terrorism Police guidance was an ‘error of judgment’.

Membership or support of climate activist groups does not mean that a person is considered a threat by the Home Office or by the police; it does not meet the government threshold for extremism as defined in the Government’s Counter-Extremism Strategy published in 2015.

The Ministry of Defence spent £19.2 billion with UK industry and commerce in financial year 2018-19, directly supporting 119,000 jobs across the country and indirectly supporting many thousands more.

In accordance with the Crichel Down Rules, the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) offered the land at Chorlton Cum Backford, to the former owner. These rules require all Government Departments to offer back surplus land (that meets the conditions set out in the rules) to the former owner at current market value.

Consultation with the former owner began in September 2019. The former owner has had the opportunity to consider the formal valuation of current market value since June 2020. The former owner has provided his response. The DIO are reviewing the former owner’s proposal.

If the sale to the former owner does not proceed, then the site will be offered to the open market, in line with Treasury Guidance. This enables consultation with all interested parties, including local residents.

In January 2019, it was declared that land at Backford Depot at Chorlton by Backford in Chester was surplus to Ministry of Defence requirements and was to be sold by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation.

In accordance with Treasury Guidelines, any disposal action commences with an investigation of whether the Crichel Down Rules (CDR) apply, this was undertaken for the Backford site and the CDR were found to apply. Potential Former Owners were asked to identify themselves following an advertisement in January 2019. The Department is currently in negotiations with a Former Owner and the CDR process is ongoing.

The £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund will invest in infrastructure that improves everyday life across the UK, including regenerating town centres and high streets, upgrading local transport, and investing in cultural and heritage assets.

We have published the following on gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/levelling-up-fund-additional-documents. The methodology used to calculate the index of places set out in the prospectus, a technical note setting out further guidance on eligibility, MP support and the application and assessment process for the first round of the Levelling Up Fund.

Housing associations are independent organisations and Government does not control the way in which they run their businesses. It is for the Board of individual housing associations to carefully consider the merits of such a merger, in consultation with tenants.

Registered providers of social housing are required to comply with the regulatory standards set by the Regulator of Social Housing. These include a requirement that private registered providers deliver their aims, objectives and intended outcomes for their tenants in an effective and transparent manner.

The Department has received no representations on the proposed merger.

Housing associations are independent organisations and Government does not control the way in which they run their businesses. It is for the Board of individual housing associations to carefully consider the merits of such a merger, in consultation with tenants.

Registered providers of social housing are required to comply with the regulatory standards set by the Regulator of Social Housing. These include a requirement that private registered providers deliver their aims, objectives and intended outcomes for their tenants in an effective and transparent manner.

The Department has received no representations on the proposed merger.

The Government is determined to ensure everyone gets the support they need to look after themselves and their families during the COVID-19 outbreak and are enabled to take the necessary measures to reduce the spread of the virus. We are holding regular discussions with representatives from Gypsy and Traveller communities to understand the issues they are facing, and to understand what guidance and support, including for local authorities, who have a responsibility to look after vulnerable groups. On 11 April, the Communities Minister wrote to local authority Chief Executives to highlight the need to mitigate potential impacts amongst Gypsy and Traveller communities, highlighting that some Gypsies and Travellers may need assistance in accessing basic facilities such as water, sanitation and waste disposal, to enable them to adhere to public health guidelines around self-isolation and social distancing.

On 18 April, the Local Government Secretary announced that councils across England will receive a further £1.6 billion to help them to deal with the immediate impacts of coronavirus. This takes the total funding to support councils to respond to the pandemic to over £3.2 billion.

The Minister for Rough Sleeping and Housing also wrote to Caravan Site owners and managers on 27 March to confirm that people who live permanently in caravan parks, or are staying in caravan parks while their primary residence is unavailable, may continue to do so.

Levels of self-employment are high amongst Gypsy and Traveller communities. The Government recently announced a scheme for those who are self-employed to claim a taxable grant worth 80 per cent of their trading profits up to a maximum of £2500 per month for the next 3 months. This may be extended if needed.

Every premature death of someone homeless is one too many and we take this matter extremely seriously.?It should not happen that people die prematurely?and on the street?because they are homeless.???

We are absolutely committed to ending rough sleeping by the end of this parliament. To achieve this, we are providing £492 million to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping in 2020/2021.This marks a £124 million increase in funding from the previous year.?

In December 2018, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) began to produce data on deaths of homeless people in England and Wales. The first release showed homelessness deaths in England and Wales from 2013-2017. Deaths of homeless people were identified from the death registration records held by the ONS, and a statistical method called capture-recapture modelling was applied to estimate the most likely number of additional registrations not identified as homeless people.

The ONS now publishes official estimates of the number of deaths of homeless people in England and Wales annually. However, the statistics are still classed as experimental. The latest release was October 2019.