Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
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 official development assistance to Afghanistan is being spent on programmes supporting Afghan women and girls.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is committed to prioritising gender equality and rights in Afghanistan. The needs and priorities of women and girls are at the core of the government's humanitarian response. In the Financial Year of 2023-24 (the most recent period for which we have verified data), we can confirm that of those reached by our £113.5 million aid budget to Afghanistan, at least 50% were women and girls, supporting at least 1.3 million Afghan women with humanitarian assistance. We have met this target since Financial Year 2021-22 and expect to continue to meet this target in 2024-25. Our aid is subject to strict monitoring and we have robust third-party monitoring for all our Official Development Assistance funded programmes.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the proposed reduction of the proportion of gross national income spent on official development assistance on women and girls in Afghanistan.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Prime Minister has set out a new strategic vision for government spending on defence and security and Official Development Assistance (ODA). Detailed decisions on how the ODA budget will be used will be worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review based on various factors including impact assessments.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he plans to ringfence official development assistance for women and girls in Afghanistan.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Prime Minister has set out a new strategic vision for government spending on defence and security and Official Development Assistance (ODA). Detailed decisions on how the ODA budget will be used will be worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review based on various factors including impact assessments.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 5 March 2025, to Question 33995, on Department for Culture, Media and Sport: Internet what proportion of spending on the First Draft podcast was allocated to its (a) production and (b) promotion.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
I refer the Hon Member to my answer to PQ 33995.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with the armed forces on deploying troops to Ukraine.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Secretary of State is supported and advised by the Chief of the Defence Staff on Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and how we can continue to best support Ukraine going forward.
The UK is ready and willing to contribute to security guarantees to Ukraine by putting our own troops on the ground if necessary.
I hope the hon. Gentleman will understand that I cannot go into any further details at this stage but can say that our focus is on ensuring Ukraine is in as strong a position as possible. When, how and on what terms this war comes to an end can only be decided by negotiations with Ukraine at the heart of them.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the UK has adequate military resources for a sustained presence in Ukraine.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The UK is ready and willing to contribute to security guarantees to Ukraine by putting our own troops on the ground if necessary.
I hope the hon. Gentleman will understand that I cannot go into any further details at this stage but can say that our focus is on ensuring Ukraine is in as strong a position as possible. When, how and on what terms this war comes to an end can only be decided by negotiations with Ukraine at the heart of them.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the UK will have to divert troops from other (a) theatres and (b) operations to maintain a presence in Ukraine.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The UK is ready and willing to contribute to security guarantees to Ukraine by putting our own troops on the ground if necessary.
I hope the hon. Gentleman will understand that I cannot go into any further details at this stage but can say that our focus is on ensuring Ukraine is in as strong a position as possible. When, how and on what terms this war comes to an end can only be decided by negotiations with Ukraine at the heart of them.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the UK has sufficient munitions stockpiles to support Ukraine.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
We inherited a position where the UK had donated, but not necessarily replaced, stockpiles to Ukraine.
The Government is steadfast in our commitment to continue to supply military assistance to Ukraine and we will stand shoulder to shoulder with our Ukrainian friends for as long as it takes.
The UK is stepping up and speeding up its military assistance, spending £4.5 billion on military support for Ukraine this year - more than ever before. We have also earmarked an additional £2.26 billion contribution under the ERA loan for military spending.
Most recently the Prime Minister announced a £1.6 billion deal to supply more than 5,000 air defence missiles to Ukraine.
Defence continually manages and analyses its stocks of weapons and munitions against commitments and threats, while also reviewing industrial capacity and supply chains, both domestically and internationally.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the request by the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs to call in the planning application for the new Chinese Embassy on national security.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
The planning application has been called in by the Secretary of State for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and she will make this quasi-judicial decision independent from the rest of Government.
As set out in a joint letter by the Foreign Secretary and Home Secretary to the Planning Inspector on 14 January, the Home Office has considered the breadth of national security issues in relation to the planning application.
It would not be appropriate to comment in further detail on specific matters relating to national security.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department is updating its impact assessment on restrictions on advertisements for less healthy food and drink products.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
DCMS is working closely with the Department for Health and Social Care, the lead department for the less healthy food and drink advertising restrictions, to monitor and assess the impacts and potential impacts of the legislation which was enacted by the previous government.