Asked by: David Mundell (Conservative - Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)
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
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.
Asked by: David Mundell (Conservative - Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)
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
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.
Asked by: David Mundell (Conservative - Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)
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
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.
Asked by: David Mundell (Conservative - Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)
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
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:
Replenishment Cycle | UK pledge |
4th replenishment 2014-2016 | £1 billion |
5th replenishment 2017-2019 | £1.1 billion |
6th replenishment 2020-2022 | £1.4 billion |
7th replenishment 2023-2025 | £1 billion |
Asked by: David Mundell (Conservative - Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)
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
The UK has disbursed over £5.5 billion to the Global Fund to date; previous UK pledges are as follows:
Replenishment Cycle | UK pledge |
4th replenishment 2014-2016 | £1 billion |
5th replenishment 2017-2019 | £1.1 billion |
6th replenishment 2020-2022 | £1.4 billion |
7th replenishment 2023-2025 | £1 billion |
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
Asked by: David Mundell (Conservative - Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)
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
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.
Asked by: David Mundell (Conservative - Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)
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
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.
Asked by: David Mundell (Conservative - Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)
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 collaborate with international health organizations to improve the (a) surveillance and (b) containment of Mpox globally.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds
Lord Collins recently visited DRC and announced £3.1 million to UNICEF to support the local response. This will reach 4.4 million people in affected communities. The UK's £340 million core voluntary contribution to the WHO supports it to allocate resources where they are needed most, including responding to health emergencies such as mpox. We have also contributed £3 million to WHO's Regional Office for Africa for health emergency response. Alongside our financial support, the FCDO continues to monitor the situation closely, staying in regular contact with the WHO and Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
Asked by: David Mundell (Conservative - Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)
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 support Mpox vaccine (a) distribution and (b) accessibility in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds
The UK is second largest donor to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, providing £1.65 billion over 2021-2025. We are working closely with Gavi to enable access to mpox vaccines for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and other African countries at risk. The UK have committed £160 million to international partner, Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). CEPI and Bavarian Nordic recently announced a clinical trial launching in late 2024 to assess vaccine effectiveness in children in Africa. Lord Collins has announced the additional £3.1 million funding to UNICEF for cholera and mpox response. This will reach 4.4 million people in affected communities.
Asked by: David Mundell (Conservative - Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he is taking steps to permit people living with HIV to serve (a) as pilots, (b) as air traffic controllers and (c) in other roles in the armed forces.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
As a new Government, we are commissioning a review into the circumstances where those who are living with HIV are not permitted to fulfil some roles within the Armed Forces.
After recent changes there are only a very small number of roles where those living with HIV are currently excluded from serving, including aircrew and pilots. We note changes made to rules around civil aviation in respect of people living with HIV and I have asked the Department to consider whether the current policy measures, especially given advances in PREP, are consistent with the values and standards of our Armed Forces.
I have asked for this review to be delivered swiftly. I would be happy to meet the righ hon. Member and cross-party colleagues to discuss this matter further with a view to a decision being taken by the Ministers in the coming weeks.