Oral Answers to Questions

John Nicolson Excerpts

Wednesday 14th September 2016 Commons Chamber

[John Nicolson (East Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

T5. The Secretary of State’s predecessor said to me that the outcome of the bilateral and multilateral aid review would be published in the early summer. It is lovely weather today, but hardly early summer; when will it be published?

[Priti Patel]

I look forward to publishing both of the reviews, and since they were draft reviews when I came into the Department, I am looking at them to make sure they meet not just the Government’s priorities, but also DFID’s new priorities. I look forward to publishing them later this year.

Oral Answers to Questions

John Nicolson Excerpts

Wednesday 29th June 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Hurd]

The key thing is to act early and to act decisively. The British Government have made a lot of money available and have acted early, which is critical to being cost-effective. Fundamental to our approach is working through other organisations. That includes the best NGOs, which are passionate about trying to provide basic services and keep people alive.

[John Nicolson (East Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

4. When her Department plans to publish the findings of its bilateral and multilateral aid reviews.

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

The reviews will ensure that we allocate our budget to the right places and in the right ways based on solid evidence, translating our UK aid strategy into a set of delivery plans for DFID that are ambitious in driving development and tackling poverty, but also deliver value for money. That is in our UK national interest. We are planning to publish the outcome of the bilateral and multilateral aid reviews in the early summer.

[John Nicolson]

May I, too, congratulate the Secretary of State on her recent announcement? In a time of great political uncertainty, surely these reviews should not be delayed any further, so may I ask her what impact she thinks Brexit will have specifically?

[Justine Greening]

Part of our work has been through the European development fund, so work is now under way to understand where the end point of Brexit is and, critically, the transition plan in the meantime. That work is under way, but I emphasise that overwhelmingly our work is not through the EDF, and that, of course, is unaffected.

Oral Answers to Questions

John Nicolson Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd February 2016 Commons Chamber

[Drew Hendry (Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey) (SNP)]

1. What preparations her Department is making for the UN world humanitarian summit.

[John Nicolson (East Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

2. What preparations her Department is making for the UN world humanitarian summit.

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

Our country has bold ambitions for the world humanitarian summit, which comes at a critical time given that there are currently more displaced people globally than at any time since the second world war. We are working with a range of partners, including UN agencies, Governments, non-governmental organisations and the private sector, to ensure that the summit delivers transformative change to crisis response.

[Justine Greening]

We have not finalised the UK delegation yet, but I can assure the hon. Gentleman that the issue of child protection has been very much at the core of all our humanitarian responses, not least, most recently, in Syria. The UK worked with UNICEF to put in place so-called safe zones in many of the refugee camps to enable children to be reunited with their families if they had got lost.

[John Nicolson]

What discussions does the Secretary of State expect to take place at the summit on support for those fleeing violence and persecution? Will she support efforts at the summit to ensure that lower and middle-income countries hosting refugees and displaced people have long-term, predictable financing, and that refugees themselves have the right to work and contribute to the society and economy to which they move?

[Justine Greening]

The hon. Gentleman asks a very pertinent question. The Syria conference in London tomorrow will look at this very issue of respecting the fact that refugees are, on average, a refugee for 17 years. We need to go beyond providing traditional lifesaving support to meet such broader needs—not just jobs, as he says, but getting children into schools. The Syria conference tomorrow is a key moment not just to respond to that crisis, but, more broadly, to show a new model of responding to protracted humanitarian crises around the world. I hope we can then take that forward at the world humanitarian summit.

Oral Answers to Questions

John Nicolson Excerpts

Wednesday 28th October 2015 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

Yes, I think that the key is to work with the grain of human nature and put in place programmes that allow livelihoods to be more successful and profitable, and that can go hand in hand with protecting and preserving the environment. The programme to which my hon. Friend refers is one of a number that the Department has put in place to ensure that reforestation happens.

[John Nicolson (East Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

2. What steps her Department is taking to support preparation for winter in refugee camps in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.

[The Minister of State, Department for International Development (Mr Desmond Swayne)]

We are supporting 11 partners with £221 million to respond to the onset of winter. Vulnerable refugees will receive warm clothes, thermal blankets, fuel and cash.

[John Nicolson]

The Minister will be aware that in Lebanon around 190,000 refugee families do not live in formal camps, because those who cannot afford to rent accommodation are often forced to live in informal tented settlements in rural areas, such as the Bekaa valley, or in unfurnished buildings in urban areas. What steps is the Department taking to support those who live outside the refugee camps?