Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Priti Patel and Victoria Prentis

Wednesday 12th July 2017 Commons Chamber

[Victoria Prentis (Banbury) (Con)]

7. How kind! May I use this opportunity to thank you, Mr Speaker, for your support for Singing for Syrians? I also thank the Department for International Development for its support. As a result of all the support we have received from across the House, Singing for Syrians is now able to support not only medical aid in Syria but a school for disabled children. Does my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State agree that aid is always worth more when it is spent in the region, and that what the people caught up in this terrible conflict really want is to be able to stay as close to home as possible?

[Priti Patel]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I congratulate her and everyone else who has been involved in Singing for Syrians. It is an incredible charity, and I commend her for her work. She is right to highlight the fact that providing support in region is what makes a difference in terms of changing and saving lives. We have led the way in this. The United Kingdom has spent more than £2.46 billion in Syria and the region, providing hope and opportunity to those who have been displaced through conflict.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Priti Patel and Victoria Prentis

Wednesday 11th January 2017 Commons Chamber

[Priti Patel]

The hon. Gentleman makes an important point in relation to the conference last year and how the humanitarian community can come together and not just learn lessons, but understand ways of working in times of severe crisis and of conflict. There are a number of lessons we can learn, including on agencies working together, the pooling of resources, and making sure that Governments across the world are working together strategically in terms of both resource allocation and, importantly, our convening power—the leverage we all have collectively in the international space to challenge Governments where they are inflicting harm and causing grief and devastation, and to make sure that we stand shoulder to shoulder and are united in how we tackle the challenge.

[Victoria Prentis (Banbury) (Con)]

10. People give to Singing for Syrians because they know that 100% of the money they donate will be spent on prosthetic limbs and medical salaries in the region, as close to Aleppo as we can get it. What more can the Secretary of State do to ensure that DFID money is spent in the region and not wasted on advocacy and lobbying in the UK?

[Priti Patel]

First, I commend my hon. Friend on her work on, and leadership in, Singing for Syrians; it is an incredible organisation and has been very successful in raising important funds. On making sure that the money is not wasted and goes directly into the region and in-country, we not only support, fund and collaborate with trusted partners, but, importantly, measure the outcomes that we are delivering in these essential humanitarian policies.