Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Dominic Raab and Pauline Latham

Wednesday 16th November 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady will know that we are facing challenges that are faced all around the world, because of covid and the war in Ukraine. We have seen rising inflation in Germany, the eurozone and the US. The reality is that this Prime Minister and this Chancellor have a plan—more detail will be set out in the autumn statement—but of course, the UK Government will continue to work collaboratively with the Scottish Government to safeguard and protect the most vulnerable right across the United Kingdom. I think that is what the Scottish people expect.

[Mrs Pauline Latham (Mid Derbyshire) (Con)]

Q4. Belper Mills in my Mid Derbyshire constituency are in a state of disrepair. The community is hugely worried about their future. It matters not just for my constituents but for the whole country, because the mills are part of a UNESCO world heritage site. If appropriate redevelopment is not agreed soon, the site risks losing its world heritage status. Will my right hon. Friend confirm that the Government will pay close attention to this case to ensure that we do not lose our world heritage status? Will he come with me to visit the mills and discuss potential solutions with local people?

[The Deputy Prime Minister]

I thank my hon. Friend for her campaigning on this. Yes, we will of course continue to monitor the condition of Belper Mills and the planning applications. The best I can say is that we strongly encourage all the local bodies—whether it is the council or the applicant—to continue to work together because, above all, her constituents will want to continue to celebrate the proud and rich tradition represented by Belper.

Official Development Assistance

Debate between Dominic Raab and Pauline Latham

Thursday 26th November 2020 Commons Chamber

[Dominic Raab]

The hon. Lady is absolutely right. I do not see a siloed distinction between our moral interest in what we do abroad and the national interest—they are often combined. In respect of some of the areas that she mentioned, she should look at what we are doing on defence and security; it may not be strictly within the DAC rules, but it does have a huge impact on our soft power abroad and the stability of the countries that she mentioned. We are going to use the allocation process to make sure that we mitigate some of the concerns and risks she mentioned, but of course we will not be able to continue all the funding that we are doing. These are difficult choices that come as a matter of necessity in the emergency financial situation that I am afraid we find ourselves in.

[Mrs Pauline Latham (Mid Derbyshire) (Con) [V]]

The International Development Committee has long recommended that there should be a single sign-off by—since its takeover of the Department for International Development—the FCDO on all UK ODA spend, no matter which Department spends it. Who in the FCDO will ultimately be responsible for that? I appreciate that the Foreign Secretary is far too busy.

[Dominic Raab]

Ultimately, the Secretary of State and Ministers are responsible to Parliament for financial spending. We look carefully at both the underspend and the overspend. We are constantly looking not just to strengthen our internal processes—we have looked at that again as a result of the merger—but to make sure through ICAI and the Select Committees in this House that we have maximum transparency. If my hon. Friend has any other specific proposals in that regard, I would be happy to consider them.