Oral Answers to Questions

Ian Mearns Excerpts

Wednesday 9th April 2014 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

I routinely discuss the work of the donor community with our US colleagues and there will be an important meeting, which the UK will be co-chairing, at the end of this year and perhaps running into early next year that will assess progress against the Tokyo mutual accountability framework. At that point we should have a new Afghan President and Government in place, so that will be a good time to take stock of progress and of the challenges that remain.

[Ian Mearns (Gateshead) (Lab)]

2. What her health priorities are for the post-2015 development framework.

[The Secretary of State for International Development (Justine Greening)]

The UK has played a central role in developing successor development goals to the millennium development goals, including through my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister’s co-chairmanship of the UN high-level panel. We want to see progress across the board on health, particularly on maternal and child health. We want a dedicated health goal, and articulated and measured health outcomes targets.

[Ian Mearns]

Despite ongoing global commitments, 40 million women gave birth without the assistance of a midwife last year, and families living in the poorest parts of the world are twice as likely to lose their babies as those in the richest nations. Will the Secretary of State use her influence to ensure that there are targets for ending preventable child, maternal and newborn deaths in the post-2015 framework, and to call for universal health coverage and universal access to midwifery?

[Justine Greening]

We are supportive of universal health coverage, which is one of the key means that can improve health outcomes. The hon. Gentleman is quite right to raise the issue of maternal health. We look across the board at how we can do that, including in relation to family planning and what we are doing this summer to combat child and early marriage, which is one reason why maternal health is poor. We will continue to work really hard on that whole agenda.

UK Aid (Uganda and Rwanda)

Ian Mearns Excerpts

Monday 19th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

I have set out very clearly, both today and to the International Development Committee, the measured and thoughtful approach we will take in respect of any future disbursements of budget support to the Rwandan Government. The hon. Gentleman is commenting on a leaked report, which may or may not be the final report that the UN sanctions committee publishes. I think we should wait for that, and in the meantime I can assure him that our Government are playing their role in working diplomatically to encourage all those involved in the violence to bring it to an end.

[Ian Mearns (Gateshead) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State was at pains to say that the M23 had not taken the city of Goma, but local reports overnight suggest that a large refugee camp to the east of the city, which is a home for 30,000 people, was being evacuated urgently with people streaming to the west. This is a very serious and large-scale humanitarian crisis. Will the right hon. Lady urgently review what can be done to minimise the suffering of innocent people in and around the city of Goma?

[Justine Greening]

I assure the hon. Gentleman that we in DFID are looking at what we can do to play our role in any humanitarian support that needs to be provided for those people.

Oral Answers to Questions

Ian Mearns Excerpts

Wednesday 2nd June 2010 Commons Chamber

[Ian Mearns (Gateshead) (Lab)]

Q13. I welcome the Prime Minister’s recognition of the progress made in the north-east economy. In the economic context, it is said that when the United States sneezes, the United Kingdom catches cold and the north-east of England gets pneumonia. I was therefore sad to learn at the weekend that the regional development agency One NorthEast is preparing budgets within year for 40% cuts in operational output. Does the Prime Minister think that is good medicine for that sort of pneumonia?

[The Prime Minister]

First, may I welcome the hon. Gentleman on his election to this place? I well remember taking the Conservative party’s bi-annual conference to Gateshead. It was received all right, given what might have been expected.

[Ian Mearns]

Come back!

[The Prime Minister]

How can I refuse an offer like that?

On regional development agencies, what we have said is that in areas of the country where they work well and where local authorities want to keep them as they are, they can. We believe, however, that in many parts of the country, including the part I represent, there is a huge amount of waste in the system and it would be better to have local enterprise partnerships, with councils coming together to support business. Wherever regional assemblies—or rather, regional development agencies— are, we think there is a large amount of waste within them. We think some of the planning and transport functions should be given back to local authorities where they belong. That is what people will see from this Government: yes, we want to generate enterprise and help businesses to get going, but we also want proper local government that controls the things that local government should do.