Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many Departmental staff are working on the conflict, stability and security fund.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The Conflict, Security and Stability Fund (CSSF) employs 483 programme funded administrative staff. As at 31 March 2018, 57 DFID staff worked on CSSF programmes (12% of overall CSSF staffing), working closely with colleagues from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Ministry of Defence, Home Office, National Crime Agency, Stabilisation Unit and the Department for Transport.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many staff in her Departmental have joint reporting responsibilities with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The information required to answer this question is not held centrally, and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Whilst it is safe to say that DFID Staff Members currently loaned to FCO have joint reporting responsibilities between DFID and FCO due to the nature of those relationships, we are unable to provide further information on staff more broadly. Each DFID Employee has one primary reporting line within DFID and it is information about those reporting relationships which is captured centrally. Some staff may have a secondary reporting line in to FCO but such relationships are managed at a local level and, as such, to draw that information from each individual department within DFID would involve disproportionate costs.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many staff in her Department are seconded to each Government Department.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
There are currently 93 DFID Staff Members loaned to Other Government Departments. The Breakdown by Department is as follows:
BEIS – 5
Cabinet Office – 8
DCMS – 1
Department for International trade – 3
Dept of Health & social care – 3
DExEU – 1
DFE – 2
FCO – 61
Home Office – 5
Northern Ireland office – 2
ONS – 2
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what representations her Department plans to make on climate change at the UN COP24 Climate Change conference taking place in Katowice, 2-14 December 2018.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
Members of my department will be joining the UK delegation for the 24th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP24). This is where the world must finalise the rules to support the implementation of the Paris Agreement as we have all committed to do, and raise our collective climate ambition further.
The UK will once again be holding a number of events, including one to highlight the important work we are leading to increase global action on resilience ahead of the UN Secretary General’s Climate Summit in 2019.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether the Government plans to provide additional funding to tackle climate change in developing countries beyond the £5.8 billion allocated between 2016 and 2021.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The UK Government is delivering the £5.8 billion of climate finance we pledged to provide between 2016 and 2021, and we are committed to ensuring we use this funding to best effect. Since 2011 we have supported 47 million people to cope with the effects of climate change, and 17 million to access clean energy.
The Government is playing a strong role in ensuring developed countries fulfil the collective commitment to mobilise $100 billion in climate finance by 2020 from public and private sources. For DFID a key part of this is working with the multilateral agencies which DFID funds, most notably the World Bank and Regional Development Banks, so that they make their best contribution to tackling climate change effectively.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to increase the level of (a) food, (b) medicine and (c) fuel imports to Hodeidah port.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The UK government continues to raise concerns with the Saudi led-Coalition about the potential impact of any assault on the port and city of Hodeidah and is in regular contact with the Coalition about the need to ensure that any further military operations do not disrupt commercial and humanitarian flows both through the port and onwards across the country. To date, Red Sea ports remain operational and continue to import most of the food and fuel on which Yemenis rely.
We have consistently made it clear, the Houthis must facilitate access throughout areas they control which is where most of the population live.
As a part of our effort to secure vital access for food, fuel, and medicine into and throughout Yemen, the UK is also providing £1.3 million to the UN Verification and Inspection Mechanism to give the Saudi-led Coalition confidence that weapons are not coming in to Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen on large commercial ships.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment has her Department made on the effect on the humanitarian situation in Yemen of the military offensive in Hodeidah port.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The UK continues to raise concerns with the Saudi led-Coalition about the potential impact of any assault on the port and city of Hodeidah and is monitoring the resumption of hostilities in and around Hodeidah closely. As we have consistently made clear, the Coalition must ensure that any further military operations in and around Hodeidah are conducted in accordance with international humanitarian law and do not disrupt commercial and humanitarian flows.
The impact of the violence around Hodeidah on commercial and humanitarian access is one of the main reasons behind the UN’s warning of the growing risk of food insecurity in Yemen. We are concerned by reports that access to the Red Sea mills has been restricted as a result of the latest fighting.
UK aid partners continue to deliver life-saving support on the ground as part of our £170 million response in Yemen this year, including cash transfers to 21,000 people displaced from Hodeidah, as well as access to 75,000 litres of clean water a day.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the effect of the military offensive on Hodeidah on her Department's aid package to help (a) screen, (b) prevent and (c) tackle malnutrition in Yemen that was announced on 16 October 2018.
Answered by Alistair Burt
On World Food Day this year, the UK announced a package of £96.5 million to help UNICEF continue to tackle malnutrition in Yemen over the coming three years. This package will screen 2.2 million children under the age of five for malnutrition and provide urgent treatment for 70,000 of the most vulnerable children.
The recent increase in military activity in and around Hodeidah has had a relatively limited impact on this programme so far, as the programme’s activities are implemented countrywide, not exclusively in Hodeidah. The continued flow of goods through and onwards from Hodeidah port, however, will be critical to ensure that humanitarian supplies can reach those in need.
In Hodeidah city, stocks of supplies, including nutrition and fuel are still available thanks to the pre-positioning by UNICEF and its partners. Efforts are now focused on scaling up lifesaving activities within the humanitarian response.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment her Department has made of the humanitarian needs of the civilians trapped in Hodeidah, Yemen; and what steps she is taking to help fulfil those needs.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The UK continues to raise concerns with the Saudi led-Coalition about the potential impact of any assault on the port and city of Hodeidah and is monitoring the resumption of hostilities in and around Hodeidah closely. The impact of the violence around Hodeidah on commercial and humanitarian access is one of the main reasons behind the UN’s warning of the growing risk of further food insecurity in Yemen.
The UK is supporting the World Food Programme (WFP) with £35 million to respond to urgent food needs in Yemen this year. This funding will provide enough cash transfers and food vouchers to meet the immediate food needs of 4 million Yemenis. In addition, UK funding this year has helped WFP pre-position enough supplies to feed more than a million families for a month, as well as over a million litres of fuel to support hospitals and clean water facilities in Hodeidah governorate.
UK aid partners continue to deliver life-saving support on the ground as part of our £170 million response in Yemen this year, including cash transfers to 21,000 people displaced from Hodeidah, as well as 75,000 litres of clean water a day. Efforts are now focused on scaling up lifesaving activities within the humanitarian response.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Independent - Edmonton)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the recent announcement from the governments of Myanmar and Bangladesh that Rohingya refugees will start to be returned from Bangladesh in November 2018, what assurances her Department has sought from the Government of Myanmar on ensuring that conditions are safe for the Rohingya people to return to Myanmar.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
We are deeply concerned that Bangladesh and Burma have announced that they plan to begin repatriation of the Rohingya to Burma in mid-November. We agree with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) that the conditions for returns do not yet exist. The UK continues to raise our concerns at the highest levels with both military and civilian Ministers in the Government of Burma. The UK and the UN Security Council have been clear, we want both Burma and Bangladesh to take solid and constructive steps to create the conditions that will allow the Rohingya to return safely, voluntarily and with dignity to Rakhine state. The Rohingya need to be well-informed about the situation they may return to, and there needs to be independent international monitoring of any returns.