Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what progress she has made on delivering humanitarian assistance and supplies to Ethiopia's Tigray region during the ceasefire in that region.
Answered by Vicky Ford - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As I observed in my statement of 1 April, the arrival of a humanitarian convoy in Tigrayan-controlled areas on that day was a welcome development, but there remains an acute and urgent requirement for sustained and unimpeded humanitarian access. I reiterated this critical need when I met with Ethiopian Finance Minister Ahmed Shide on 21 April, and again in my statement on 28 April. More than 400,000 people are experiencing catastrophic famine-like conditions in Tigray and this year nearly 30 million people throughout the country will require life-saving aid. In Northern Ethiopia conflict has affected more than 9 million people - including 5.2 million people in Tigray, where humanitarian access is negligible.
Since the start of the conflict in November 2020 the UK has allocated more than £75 million in humanitarian assistance for Northern Ethiopia. This includes £15.6 million to the World Food Programme (WFP) for its food and nutrition operations in Northern Ethiopia. This helped WFP reach more than 885,000 people with food assistance and approximately 219,000 people with nutrition support. It has funded 54 trucks for humanitarian convoys, 28 of them involved in the latest convoy on 24-25 April.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what comparative assessment she has made of the impact of the levels of funding for the Shule Bora education programme announced in (a) March 2020 and (b) April 2022 on that programme’s ability to meet its objectives relating to the (i) improvement of (A) learning outcomes, (B) transition rates to secondary school for girls and (C) access to education for children with disabilities and (ii) reduction of sexual and physical violence.
Answered by Vicky Ford - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We have sought to maximise the effect of our ODA by (i) encouraging additional funding from other development partners, including a $500 million World Bank concessional loan for primary education and a circa $120 million Global Partnership in Education (GPE) grant; (ii) supporting government reforms to strengthen the management of education systems so that domestic funds are spent to maximum effect. In this way, we are confident UK taxpayers will contribute to the key areas of learning, inclusion, safety and increased transition of girls to secondary school. Our support will enable Shule Bora to reach over 4 million children in Tanzania with improved learning outcomes, and to help over 250,000 more girls (some with disabilities) to transition into secondary school. It will establish a nationwide monitoring and improvement system for schools, making them safer, more inclusive and free from violence.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 28 February 2022 to Question 43901 on Coronavirus: Vaccination, if he will seek an update from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation on the roll-out of the novavax covid-19 vaccine in the UK.
Answered by Maggie Throup - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There is no current date when we expect Novavax to be available for people in the United Kingdom. We will continue to be guided by the advice of the independent Joint Committee of Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on which vaccines should be deployed in the UK’s vaccination programmes. The JCVI has discussed the potential use of Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine (Nuvaxovid) in the national vaccination programme. Its considerations will be published in due course and kept under review.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he expects the novavax covid-19 vaccine to be available for people in the UK.
Answered by Maggie Throup - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There is no current date when we expect Novavax to be available for people in the United Kingdom. We will continue to be guided by the advice of the independent Joint Committee of Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on which vaccines should be deployed in the UK’s vaccination programmes. The JCVI has discussed the potential use of Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine (Nuvaxovid) in the national vaccination programme. Its considerations will be published in due course and kept under review.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of trends in the level of compliance in British workplaces with International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection guidelines on non-ionizing radiations.
Answered by Chloe Smith - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In Great Britain, the International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection guidelines are reflected in the Control of Electromagnetic Fields at Work Regulations 2016 (EMF regulations) and the Control of Artificial Optical Radiation at Work Regulations 2010 (AOR regulations).
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) enforces the EMF and AOR regulations, which make provisions for the protection of workers and others from the health risks associated with exposure to electromagnetic fields and artificial optical radiation during work activity. There has been no recent specific assessment of trends in regulatory compliance. However, HSE recently carried out the first 5-yearly post-implementation review of the EMF regulations, which was published in July 2021. The evidence gathered as part of the review showed no significant concerns with how the regulations were helping employers control the risks associated with electromagnetic fields.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of Zambia's progress through the G20's Common Framework.
Answered by John Glen - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Zambia is one of three countries – along with Chad and Ethiopia - to have so far requested the Common Framework, which was designed to help deliver a long-term, sustainable approach for supporting low-income countries to tackle their debt vulnerabilities. Zambia reached a Staff-Level Agreement with the IMF in December, marking a step forward. At Spring Meetings, the IMF managing director indicated that China had agreed to join the creditor committee for Zambia. As a creditor to Zambia, it is a priority to work with the rest of the G20 to ensure swift progress on the debt treatment.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
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 the £25 million match-funding to the DEC Appeal has been disbursed to date.
Answered by James Cleverly - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) has received £10 million of the UK Aid Match funding to date - 40% of the total £25 million match-funding. In partnership with DEC, FCDO has agreed a disbursement schedule for UK Aid Match funding that will ensure DEC are able to make timely disbursements to their implementing partners on the ground, alongside donations from the UK public.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the cost (a) per head and (b) in total for case workers, legal advice, translators, accommodation, food and healthcare in respect of the offshoring of asylum seekers in Rwanda.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
Funding for Migration and Economic Development Partnership has been agreed as part of Home Office settlement with HMT. It is not from the GNI ODA budget.
Under this partnership the UK is investing an initial £120 million into the economic development and growth of Rwanda. Funding will also be provided to support the delivery of asylum operations, accommodation, and integration.
Every person’s needs are different, but we anticipate the amount would be comparable to processing costs incurred in the UK.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will confirm the amount of funding that the Government has agreed with the Rwandan Government to cover the cost of case workers, legal advice, translators, accommodation, food and healthcare for the offshoring of asylum seekers in that country.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
Funding for Migration and Economic Development Partnership has been agreed as part of Home Office settlement with HMT. It is not from the GNI ODA budget.
Under this partnership the UK is investing an initial £120 million into the economic development and growth of Rwanda. Funding will also be provided to support the delivery of asylum operations, accommodation, and integration.
Every person’s needs are different, but we anticipate the amount would be comparable to processing costs incurred in the UK.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
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 to support global health systems and maintain access to critical routine immunisations.
Answered by Amanda Milling - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is working to deliver the objectives set out in our recently published Health Systems Strengthening Position Paper - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/health-systems-strengthening-for-global-health-security-and-universal-health-coverage This includes the mainstreaming of a health systems strengthening approach across all the UK's health influencing activities and investments through country programmes, research and multilaterals such as the World Health Organisation, Global Fund and Gavi. The UK's £1.65 billion commitment to Gavi's core immunisation programme 2021-25 is the largest of any donor, and will support Gavi to immunise 300 million children and save up to 8 million lives, and enable countries to restore immunisation services during and after the pandemic.