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Written Question
Members: Correspondence
Tuesday 19th December 2023

Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, when he plans to respond to the correspondence from the hon. Member for Harrow West of 1 December 2023 on the AlShaikh family.

Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The FCDO recognises the importance of the effective and timely handling of correspondence, particularly on urgent matters. We are investigating the matters raised carefully and a response will be issued shortly.


Written Question
Gaza: British Nationals Abroad
Thursday 7th December 2023

Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the criteria of Eligible Persons for evacuation from the Gaza strip to non-British nationals with permission to travel to the UK .

Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The FCDO are making attempts across multiple channels to keep in touch with the British nationals in Gaza to provide the most accurate advice as to how and when to cross the Rafah Border. The FCDO usually provides consular assistance to British nationals and their non-British national immediate family members, including a spouse, partner, and children under 18, as long as they are travelling with or accompanied by a British national.

We are aware of the difficulties affecting those who would like to exit Gaza. We therefore encourage any British national to register their presence via the FCDO's Travel Advice page. The Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary have both repeatedly reinforced the importance of ensuring that all foreign nationals are able to evacuate Gaza safely, as well as ensuring that humanitarian aid urgently reaches those who need it most in Gaza. We are continuing to raise this at the highest levels.


Written Question
Members: Correspondence
Monday 20th November 2023

Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when he plans to respond to the correspondence from the hon. Member for Harrow West of 20 October 2023 and 31 October 2023 on the the detention of his constituent overseas.

Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

We are grateful to the honourable Member for bringing this matter to our attention. Whilst we are unable to locate the correspondence of 20 October (it would be appreciated if this could be re-sent to fcdo.correspondence@fcdo.gov.uk), the Minister for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, will reply to the honourable Member's correspondence of 31 October in accordance with Cabinet Office guidelines. We remind the honourable Member that we provide MPs with a dedicated hotline for enquiries of a more urgent nature.


Written Question
Africa: Trade Agreements
Friday 3rd March 2023

Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department is providing support to the African Continental Free Trade Area; and if he will make a statement.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has a programme of support for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat and its Member States. The programme is in its first year of implementation, providing trade policy and trade facilitation support for negotiations and implementation through TradeMark Africa, ODI and other regional partners. Our assistance has supported the completion of the investment negotiations; developing plans to improve freight flows along the Lagos-Abidjan corridor, with upgrades starting at the Ghana-Togo border and is advising Ghana and Nigeria on manufacturing value chain development and positioning the private sector to grasp AfCFTA's new trading opportunities.


Written Question
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Trade
Wednesday 21st December 2022

Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many staff in his Department have been allocated to deal with issues related to international trade in (a) each of the past five years and (b) the next two years; and if he will make a statement.

Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) works to promote a free and fair global trading system and provides diplomatic and international engagement support to Department of International Trade efforts to secure world-class trade agreements, advising on all aspects of foreign and development policy. FCDO also works with HMG partners to build effective economic partnerships, seize opportunities from investment and free trade, and unlock the mutual advantages of growth.

In September 2022, the Economic Security Directorate headcount (UK Based staff only), which covers staff working on the above objectives, was 100-119; in September 2021 it was 120-139. Prior to September 2021, data for staff working on trade in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office was not recorded centrally. Following the Autumn Budget, the FCDO will be launching detailed Business & Country Planning and Workforce Planning processes, that will help determine workforce requirements from 2023-24 onwards.


Written Question
Africa: Vaccination
Thursday 15th December 2022

Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to support the Partnership for Vaccine Manufacturing initiative to increase African vaccine manufacturing.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

Vaccine availability has improved across Africa since late 2021. Increased and diversified manufacturing will strengthen health services and improve preparedness for future pandemics. We are supporting the Africa Centres for Disease Control's "Partnership for African Vaccine Manufacturing" by providing market analysis on priority vaccines for the region, to inform manufacturers' and investors' planning. We have provided technical support to develop business cases for production in South Africa, Senegal and Morocco. Our approach contributes to sustainable manufacturing in the medium and longer term across Africa through commercially viable businesses operating within an ecosystem of skilled workers, innovative technology, and effective regulation.


Written Question
Coronavirus: Vaccination
Thursday 15th December 2022

Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government will take to support the World Health Organisation's mRNA Technology Transfer Hubs in light of commitments within the G20 Leaders’ Declaration.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

We are working with industry, Gavi and other international partners on practical efforts to scale up capacity and engage on planning to accelerate vaccination programmes globally. In March 2022, the UK hosted the Global Pandemic Preparedness Summit, which raised over US$1.5 billion, including a UK pledge of £160 million to Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), to help develop vaccines against new health threats in 100 days and rapidly scale-up manufacturing. We continue our engagement to identify opportunities for the UK to collaborate with initiatives and implementing partners, including with the G20 as it takes forward work in this area.


Written Question
Development Aid: Food Supply
Friday 30th September 2022

Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much financial support her Department has provided to organisations based in (a) India, (b) Sri Lanka, (c) Nepal and (d) Afghanistan to help tackle hunger in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Answered by Vicky Ford

In India, the FCDO provided £8.6 million in food assistance and basic nutrition support over 2016-2020, and is supporting the Samridhi Fund to invest in the farming sector and contribute to reducing hunger.

In Sri Lanka, the UK provides support as one of the largest donors to the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). CERF provided food assistance through cash transfers to 21,788 people during the drought in 2017, and this year is supporting 22,034 people.

In Nepal, the UK's broad development programme contributes to reducing hunger through our humanitarian, nutrition, climate resilience and livelihoods work. For example, in 2020-21 the UK provided £5.28 million to support 204,296 women and children, including through a feeding programme.

Afghanistan remains one of the world's most severe food security crises. Over 2016-2020, the FCDO provided at least £50.3 million towards food assistance and basic nutrition, and has dispersed £159 million to the World Food Programme (WFP) in Afghanistan since August 2021.


Written Question
India: Development Aid
Friday 30th September 2022

Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much funding her Department provided to UN organisations working in India in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Answered by Vicky Ford

The FCDO spends some of its Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) bilaterally, meaning the destination/sector for the ODA spend is specified, using multilateral agencies as the delivery channel. Table 1 shows the volume of bilateral ODA the FCDO spent through UN agencies between 2016 and 2020, that benefitted India.

The UK also provides core contributions to UN agencies' general budgets, a proportion of which will have benefitted India.

The increase in 2020 reflects funding to help India respond to the COVID pandemic and to provide social protection by helping to build climate-resilient infrastructure.

Table 1: FCDO bilateral ODA channelled through UN Agencies benefitting India, 2016-2020

Year

£

2016

200,000

2017

550,000

2018

450,000

2019

513,000

2020

1,746,000

Source: Statistics on International Development


Written Question
Development Aid: Climate Change
Tuesday 27th September 2022

Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assistance her Department is providing to help tackle climate change in (a) India, (b) Sri Lanka, (c) Nepal and (d) Afghanistan; and if she will make a statement.

Answered by Vicky Ford

The UK is fully committed to supporting all countries tackle the impacts of climate change.

We are partnering with India on its low carbon transition and on climate adaptation, accelerating investment in clean and resilient infrastructure, and mobilising regional and global climate action. For example, the Infrastructure for Climate Resilient Growth programme integrates climate risk and adaptation into social protection and has supported 1.4 million people so far to cope with the effects of climate change.

The UK's £500 million Blue Planet Fund supports countries, including Sri Lanka and India, to protect the marine environment and tackle climate issues.

The UK has committed over £350 million of climate support to Nepal in the past 5 years. The Climate Smart Development programme has improved the resilience of 700,000 poor and vulnerable people to floods, landslides, and droughts.

In Afghanistan, we have been supporting communities impacted by extreme climatic events through emergency humanitarian support through NGO and UN Partners.

At COP26, the UK launched Climate Action for a Resilient Asia (CARA) a 7-year, regional Indo-Pacific programme designed to strengthen climate resilience. The programme aims to mobilise climate finance, strengthen water security, conserve ecosystems and biodiversity, and help vulnerable communities lead local adaptation efforts, with up to £274 million spend. CARA will support countries across the Indo-Pacific, including India, Sri Lanka and Nepal.