Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the role the Global Fund plays in his Department's broader strategy for international development and global health.

Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Our investments in the Global Fund play a critical role delivering the Government's international development priorities: to create a world free from poverty, on a liveable planet, putting equality at the heart of all we do. This includes strengthening health security, improving preparedness and response and protecting citizens and economies from health and climate threats.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will take steps ensure that second-class Saturday deliveries remain part of the universal service obligation for Royal Mail.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Ofcom, as the independent regulator of postal services, is responsible for ensuring the provision of a financially sustainable and efficient universal postal service that meets users’ needs.

Ofcom’s statement of 5 September set out potential reforms to the universal service obligation and its plans to carry out further in-depth research among postal users. Ofcom expects to publish any proposals for public consultation in early 2025, which will provide an opportunity for interested parties (including magazine publishers) to contribute their views. More information is available on Ofcom’s website: www.ofcom.org.uk/post/royal-mail/securing-the-future-of-the-universal-postal-service.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help ensure that funds allocated to the Global Fund is administered (a) effectively and (b) transparently.

Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

FCDO's Global Fund contributions are delivered in line with the Programme Operating Framework, which is intended to maximise UK aid's effectiveness and impact. This includes rules on aid transparency, value for money and equity to help reach the vulnerable.

FCDO engages regularly with the Fund to monitor and drive progress against its mission and UK priorities, including regular assessments of performance. We do this through our Board and Committee representation, alongside others, and bilateral strategic and programmatic levers.

5 per cent of UK funding is channelled through the Global Fund Accelerator programme, which acts as an additional lever to deliver UK priorities.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help ensure that the Global Fund’s programmes are (a) inclusive and (b) reach the most vulnerable people.

Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

FCDO's Global Fund contributions are delivered in line with the Programme Operating Framework, which is intended to maximise UK aid's effectiveness and impact. This includes rules on aid transparency, value for money and equity to help reach the vulnerable.

FCDO engages regularly with the Fund to monitor and drive progress against its mission and UK priorities, including regular assessments of performance. We do this through our Board and Committee representation, alongside others, and bilateral strategic and programmatic levers.

5 per cent of UK funding is channelled through the Global Fund Accelerator programme, which acts as an additional lever to deliver UK priorities.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department takes with international counterparts to maximise the impact of contributions to the Global Fund.

Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

FCDO's Global Fund contributions are delivered in line with the Programme Operating Framework, which is intended to maximise UK aid's effectiveness and impact. This includes rules on aid transparency, value for money and equity to help reach the vulnerable.

FCDO engages regularly with the Fund to monitor and drive progress against its mission and UK priorities, including regular assessments of performance. We do this through our Board and Committee representation, alongside others, and bilateral strategic and programmatic levers.

5 per cent of UK funding is channelled through the Global Fund Accelerator programme, which acts as an additional lever to deliver UK priorities.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of Royal Mail’s proposed stamp price increases on magazine publishers.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Government does not have a role in Royal Mail’s commercial decisions, including the prices of stamps and other services.

In setting its prices, Royal Mail must observe the regulatory framework set by Ofcom which imposes price controls, ‘safeguard caps’, on certain second-class products to ensure a basic universal service is available to all at affordable prices.

Information on Ofcom’s decisions regarding retail price caps on Royal Mail’s universal postal services to apply from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2027 is available on its website: www.ofcom.org.uk/post/deliveries-and-charges/consultation-review-of-second-class-safeguard-caps-2024.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of changes to Royal Mail’s universal service obligation on magazine publishers.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Ofcom, as the independent regulator of postal services, is responsible for ensuring the provision of a financially sustainable and efficient universal postal service that meets users’ needs.

Ofcom’s statement of 5 September set out potential reforms to the universal service obligation and its plans to carry out further in-depth research among postal users. Ofcom expects to publish any proposals for public consultation in early 2025, which will provide an opportunity for interested parties (including magazine publishers) to contribute their views. More information is available on Ofcom’s website: www.ofcom.org.uk/post/royal-mail/securing-the-future-of-the-universal-postal-service.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help mitigate the potential impact of changing levels of funding on the Global Fund’s ability to help tackle (a) HIV, (b) AIDS, (c) tuberculosis, and (d) malaria.

Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK wants to see a successful Global Fund 8th replenishment in 2025. We are considering all our health investments in the round to make strategic funding decisions and maximise impact. Effective coordination across Global Health Initiatives will be needed to secure sustainable resources and deliver for the global health challenges ahead.

As an active Board and Strategy Committee member, the UK is playing a strong role, alongside others, in supporting the Global Fund to identify and manage risks ahead of the 8th replenishment. This includes planning for a range of funding scenarios.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the UK's financial contribution to the Global Fund was in (a) the 2023-24 financial year and (b) each of the previous 10 financial years.

Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

In November 2022 the UK pledged £1 billion to the 7th replenishment to support efforts to tackle malaria, TB and HIV and strengthen health systems between 2023 and 2025. This funding is being disbursed across three years; £850 million of the pledge was paid in financial year 2023/2024.

The UK has disbursed over £5.5 billion to the Global Fund to date; previous UK pledges are as follows:

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the impact of the UK’s contributions to the Global Fund on global health outcomes.

Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK has disbursed over £5.5 billion to the Global Fund to date; previous UK pledges are as follows:

The Global Fund is a high performing organisation that has saved 65 million lives, with combined deaths attributed to HIV, TB and malaria estimated as having been reduced by 61 per cent, because of Global Fund activities

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking with the Global Fund to (a) help tackle emerging global health threats and (b) ensure sustainable health systems.

Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The FCDO engages regularly with the Global Fund to monitor and drive progress against its mission and UK priorities, including global health security and sustainable health systems. The Global Fund is the world's largest grant funder of health systems, investing approximately $3.7 billion a year. This also supports countries to better tackle emerging global health threats, alongside the Covid-19 Response Mechanism. The Global Fund Strategy 2023-2028 sets out a clear ambition to do more to strengthen health systems and explicitly recognises the role the Fund plays in pandemic preparedness and response.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the key challenges faced by the Global Fund in achieving its goals; and what steps his Department is taking to support efforts to overcome these challenges.

Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Through our Board and Committee representation and bilateral levers, the FCDO engages consistently with the Global Fund to monitor and drive progress against its goals and UK priorities. This includes making regular assessments of the risks to its operations and strategy.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many and what proportion of branches within the Post Office network are provided by mobile services.

Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

There are over 11,500 post office branches in the UK. The Government-set Access Criteria ensures that however the network changes, services remain within local reach of all citizens.

​Due to lack of premises or retailers within particular areas, permanent solutions are however not always possible. In these communities, outreach branches ensure customers are not left behind and can continue to access Post Office services. Post Office's 2023 Annual Network Report shows that 16.5% (1,924) of the total 11,684 branches are outreach branches.

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Found: Holden Simon Hoare Nick Timothy Gareth Bacon Sir Alec Shelbrooke Graham Stringer Bob Blackman David

Found: Holden Simon Hoare Nick Timothy Gareth Bacon Sir Alec Shelbrooke Graham Stringer Bob Blackman David

Found: Mr Richard Holden Simon Hoare Nick Timothy Gareth Bacon Sir Alec Shelbrooke Graham Stringer David

Found: Mr Richard Holden Simon Hoare Nick Timothy Gareth Bacon Sir Alec Shelbrooke Graham Stringer David

Found: Mr Richard Holden Simon Hoare Nick Timothy Gareth Bacon Sir Alec Shelbrooke Graham Stringer David

Found: Mr Richard Holden Simon Hoare Nick Timothy Gareth Bacon Sir Alec Shelbrooke Graham Stringer David

Found: Joy Morrissey Mr Richard Holden Simon Hoare Nick Timothy Gareth Bacon Sir Alec Shelbrooke David

Found: Joy Morrissey Mr Richard Holden Simon Hoare Nick Timothy Gareth Bacon Sir Alec Shelbrooke David

Submit Evidence (by 9 Dec 2024)

In Development: call for potential topics of inquiry

Submit Evidence (by 7 Jan 2025)

In November 2020, the Government announced a reduction of Official Development Assistance (ODA) from 0.7 per cent to 0.5 per cent of Gross National Income (GNI), a “temporary measure” until a set of certain fiscal rules were met. In the 2024 Autumn Budget, the Government confirmed that the FCDO would be held to the previous government’s fiscal rules, with the OBR confirming that these rules, and therefore a restoration of the aid budget, are not expected to be met during the life of this Parliament. With the UK’s aid budget being under further strain due to Home Office spend on in-donor refugee costs, it becomes increasingly important that the FCDO ensures Value for Money on its programme spending.

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