Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that children receive a minimum of two hours of high-quality physical education per week, and are supported to be physically active for at least 60 minutes a day.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government has pledged to protect PE time and wants schools to offer a minimum of two hours of PE per week for all pupils. The department is committed to supporting schools to meet this ambition.
The government response to the independent Curriculum and Assessment Review has committed to strengthen the PE curriculum across all key stages, including key stage 4, to give it a clearer purpose and ensure schools recognise the importance of protecting two hours of PE throughout a pupil’s time at school.
To bring more consistency to the provision of support and opportunities across the country and to ensure it reaches the children and young people who need it most, we are working to set up new PE and School Sport Partnerships across the country. These will make sure that the support that schools can draw on for making improvements to PE is high quality and informed by the best evidence and clearly focused on the challenge of reducing inactivity, securing equal access to sporting opportunities and ensuring there is a renewed focus on supporting schools to increase PE time.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the introduction of School Sport Partnerships and the new Enrichment Framework is supported by adequate levels of funding.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
My right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister announced in June 2025 the establishment of a new PE and School Sport Partnerships Network to ensure all children and young people have access to high quality PE and extracurricular sport. Details on the PE and School Sports Partnerships funding will be confirmed in due course.
The Enrichment Framework will be published this academic year, accompanied by a range of support to help schools’ enrichment offers. We will work with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on the National Youth Strategy implementation, including the £22.5 million Enrichment Expansion Programme and £132.5 million through the ‘Every Child Can’ dormant assets funding. This is in addition to international enrichment opportunities through the UK’s association to the EU’s Erasmus+ programme, continuing investment in our national network of Music Hubs, a new £750,000 chess support programme, and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology’s flagship ‘TechYouth’ programme.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking with international partners to expand access to basic eye care services, including cataract surgery and vision correction, in low- and middle‑income countries.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is committed to tackling global health challenges and considers eye health within this wider agenda. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is transforming its approach to global health by moving from direct service delivery to supporting countries with technical expertise and long-term system strengthening, including through our fully flexible funding to the World Health Organization. The new Global Health Community of Expertise will connect partners with UK and global knowledge, innovation and investment. This demand-led, partnership model is designed to help countries access the resources they need to address their own health challenges, including on eye health.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has assessed the potential merits of advocating international action to reduce avoidable sight loss at the Global Summit for Eye Health in November 2026.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is committed to tackling global health challenges and considers eye health within this wider agenda. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is transforming its approach to global health by moving from direct service delivery to supporting countries with technical expertise and long-term system strengthening, including through our fully flexible funding to the World Health Organization. The new Global Health Community of Expertise will connect partners with UK and global knowledge, innovation and investment. This demand-led, partnership model is designed to help countries access the resources they need to address their own health challenges, including on eye health.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she plans to include eye health interventions in future UK international development and global health programmes.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is committed to tackling global health challenges and considers eye health within this wider agenda. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is transforming its approach to global health by moving from direct service delivery to supporting countries with technical expertise and long-term system strengthening, including through our fully flexible funding to the World Health Organization. The new Global Health Community of Expertise will connect partners with UK and global knowledge, innovation and investment. This demand-led, partnership model is designed to help countries access the resources they need to address their own health challenges, including on eye health.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what timetable her Department is working to for confirming country-level Official Development Assistance allocations for financial years (a) 2026-27, (b) 2027-28 and (c) 2028-29.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Official Development Assistance (ODA) allocations by country for the next three years will be published no later than in the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office's (FCDO) Annual Report & Accounts this summer.
Teams across the FCDO and our country network are considering how best to prioritise their ODA allocations, including as part of portfolio strategies which will help deliver a more coordinated approach to our work in partner countries. We are therefore unable to provide details on individual programme decisions. Updates to UK ODA programmes are published on DevTracker on GOV.UK each month.
We are reducing ODA gradually to the equivalent of 0.3 per cent of Gross National Income by 2027 to allow time for programming to be reprioritised in a way which is considered and deliberate. Setting three years of allocations from 2026/27 to 2028/29 provides the predictability our teams need to effectively manage reductions, including responsibly exiting programmes where necessary.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to advance the 2018 Commonwealth Heads of Government commitment on taking action towards achieving access to quality eye care for all, including eliminating blinding trachoma.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is committed to tackling global health challenges and considers eye health within this wider agenda. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is transforming its approach to global health by moving from direct service delivery to supporting countries with technical expertise and long-term system strengthening, including through our fully flexible funding to the World Health Organization. The new Global Health Community of Expertise will connect partners with UK and global knowledge, innovation and investment. This demand-led, partnership model is designed to help countries access the resources they need to address their own health challenges, including on eye health.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what role eye health plays within global health and international development strategies.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is committed to tackling global health challenges and considers eye health within this wider agenda. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is transforming its approach to global health by moving from direct service delivery to supporting countries with technical expertise and long-term system strengthening, including through our fully flexible funding to the World Health Organization. The new Global Health Community of Expertise will connect partners with UK and global knowledge, innovation and investment. This demand-led, partnership model is designed to help countries access the resources they need to address their own health challenges, including on eye health.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department has estimated the potential effect of future reductions to the ODA budget on (a) existing and (b) pipeline programmes in (i) Kenya and (ii) Jamaica.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Official Development Assistance (ODA) allocations by country for the next three years will be published no later than in the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office's (FCDO) Annual Report & Accounts this summer.
Teams across the FCDO and our country network are considering how best to prioritise their ODA allocations, including as part of portfolio strategies which will help deliver a more coordinated approach to our work in partner countries. We are therefore unable to provide details on individual programme decisions. Updates to UK ODA programmes are published on DevTracker on GOV.UK each month.
We are reducing ODA gradually to the equivalent of 0.3 per cent of Gross National Income by 2027 to allow time for programming to be reprioritised in a way which is considered and deliberate. Setting three years of allocations from 2026/27 to 2028/29 provides the predictability our teams need to effectively manage reductions, including responsibly exiting programmes where necessary.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much and what proportion of planned spend figures on DevTracker (a) have been committed to and (b) are subject to reprofiling or cancellation.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Official Development Assistance (ODA) allocations by country for the next three years will be published no later than in the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office's (FCDO) Annual Report & Accounts this summer.
Teams across the FCDO and our country network are considering how best to prioritise their ODA allocations, including as part of portfolio strategies which will help deliver a more coordinated approach to our work in partner countries. We are therefore unable to provide details on individual programme decisions. Updates to UK ODA programmes are published on DevTracker on GOV.UK each month.
We are reducing ODA gradually to the equivalent of 0.3 per cent of Gross National Income by 2027 to allow time for programming to be reprioritised in a way which is considered and deliberate. Setting three years of allocations from 2026/27 to 2028/29 provides the predictability our teams need to effectively manage reductions, including responsibly exiting programmes where necessary.