Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with reference to the oral evidence given by Andrew McCoubrey, Director for Afghanistan and Pakistan of his Department, to the Foreign Affairs Committee on Follow-up to Afghanistan Inquiry on 17 October 2023, Q33, HC 1888 of Session 2022-23, what steps the Government has taken to encourage the World Bank to release further funds from the Afghanistan Resilience Trust Fund to provide (a) humanitarian assistance following the recent earthquake in Afghanistan and (b) support for Afghan people during winter 2023-23.
Answered by Leo Docherty
The FCDO is committed to supporting Afghanistan's citizens, including helping them respond to the recent earthquake. We provided an additional £1 million to Red Cross and the Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund to provide emergency shelter, food and health assistance. The UK has been instrumental in unlocking over $1 billion through the Afghanistan Resilience Trust Fund and we continue to work with the World Bank to deliver support at scale in health, food security and community resilience in the earthquake affected areas.
In 2023/24, we are providing the World Food Programme with over £30 million to deliver humanitarian assistance, including prepositioning essential winter food supplies in hard-to-reach areas.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with reference to the oral evidence given by Andrew McCoubrey, Director for Afghanistan and Pakistan of his Department, to the Foreign Affairs Committee on Follow-up to Afghanistan Inquiry on 17 October 2023, Q33, HC 1888 of Session 2022-23, if he will make a commitment to publishing his Department’s analysis of the implications for UK aid funding decisions for Afghanistan of the United Nations Integrated Food Security Phase Classification assessment of Afghanistan, due to be completed by the end of November 2023.
Answered by Leo Docherty
As the Development White Paper highlights, the UK Government prioritises humanitarian assistance to people in greatest need. On Monday the UK hosted the Global Food Security Summit, announcing up to £100 million in new humanitarian funding to countries worst hit by food insecurity, including Afghanistan. We continue to monitor the food security situation in Afghanistan, including analysing Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) data and other assessments and evidence, and use these to inform portfolio planning. In recognition of the needs in Afghanistan this year, we provided the World Food Programme with over £30 million for emergency food, cash and nutrition assistance.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to deliver family hubs in every area of the country.
Answered by David Johnston
The government is investing around £300 million through the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme to enable 75 local authorities to create family hubs, and to improve vital services to give every baby the best start in life.
The local authorities taking part in the programme were selected by targeting areas with the highest levels of deprivation. An additional £28 million has also been made available to these local authorities to improve early language development, by supporting parents to help their children learn at home. This builds on the government’s previous investment to champion family hubs, including a £12 million transformation fund which will open family hubs in a further 13 local authorities in England.
This investment in family hubs is significant. It will have a wide reach across the country, improving outcomes for thousands of babies, children, and families.
The department’s ambition is to see family hubs open across the country. However, it is crucial that the department focuses on delivering well in the local areas that it is currently funding. The department will continue to build the model and evidence base, whilst working with the National Centre for Family Hubs to champion and spread good practice for all local authorities. The evidence and learning from this investment will help to improve services across England where they are most needed and help to build the evidence based for future investment decisions.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the implementation of UK sanctions against the Burmese military.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
Since the coup in February 2021, we have imposed sanctions on 25 individuals and 29 entities. On 31 October, we announced our sixteenth round of sanctions, targeting those who profit from supplying Myanmar's military with finance and arms. Our sanctions implementation is robust - HM Treasury assesses every instance of reported non-compliance and takes action in all cases where we conclude a breach has occurred. The UK is considering a range of further targets to hold the Myanmar regime to account and will continue to maintain international efforts to ensure sanctions are effective and investigate activities that support circumvention.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the views of teachers are taken into account in its review of the Relationships, Sex, Health and Education statutory guidance.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Shadow Secretary of State for Education
In carrying out its review of the Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) statutory guidance, the department has sought evidence from a range of stakeholders, including groups representing teachers and schools, to share evidence about areas of the guidance they think should be strengthened.
A small group of teachers also contributed their views directly in the roundtables with Ministers, which took place over summer 2023, focusing on key topics such as suicide prevention and RSHE teaching materials.
Teachers will also have an opportunity to present their views as part of the public consultation on revised guidance due to be launched in the coming months.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure the Victims Funding Strategy is effectively communicated to the relevant authorities.
Answered by Laura Farris
Since publication of the Victims Funding Strategy (VFS) in May 2022, officials within the Ministry of Justice have had regular engagement with Police and Crime Commissioners’ (PCC) offices to embed its principles of funding the sector more strategically, removing barriers to access, and implementing clear and consistent outcomes.
This engagement includes recently established PCC forums, which bring groups of PCC officials together to discuss local commissioning and share best practice to improve commissioning standards.
In addition, Ministry of Justice officials have also regularly communicated the VFS principles and its implementation with the Local Government Association and with NHS England, to ensure the VFS is considered by local authorities and clinical commissioners as part of their victim support strategy planning. Other government departments continue to be engaged extensively on VFS implementation in their role as national commissioners.
In the VFS, we committed to reviewing and refreshing the Victim Services Commissioning Framework. This work is currently in development, and will be a positive step to ensuring that the principles of the VFS are reflected in commissioning decisions across all local commissioners. The refreshed framework will be published next year.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 16 October 2023 to Question 203848 on the UN Population Fund and to the £425 million the UK Government pledged to the United Nations Population Fund Supplies Partnership in 2019 for 2020-2025, to how much that figure was reduced as a result of the decision to reduce that pledge in 2021; and whether the Government is on track to disburse the remaining sum outstanding under that revised pledge by the end of 2025.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK Government previously agreed to provide the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Supplies Partnership with £425 million from 2020 - 2025. This was later reduced following reductions in Overseas Development Assistance spend in 2021 to £264 million from 2020-2025. We are, however, still the largest donor to UNFPA Supplies and we are supporting supplies in additional ways such as through market shaping.
The UK Government has disbursed £204 million and is on track to disburse the final £60 million payment next financial year. The programme closes in March 2025.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to reduce waiting times for NHS gynaecology services in (a) Rotherham and (b) the rest of England.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
We are taking action to recover elective services, including for patients waiting for National Health Service gynaecology services in Rotherham and England, by working towards the targets set out in the Elective Recovery Plan and providing the NHS with record levels of staffing and funding.
£2.3 billionn was awarded at Spending Review 2021 to transform diagnostic services over the next three years. Most of this will help increase the number of Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs) up to 160 by March 2025, expanding and protecting elective planned diagnostic services. This includes an established spoke, at Montagu Hospital CDC, to which General Practices in Rotherham constituency can refer patients for key diagnostic checks, tests and scans. The funding will also be used to increase capacity for imaging and improving digital diagnostics.
We are also transforming the way the NHS provides elective care by increasing activity through dedicated and protected surgical hubs, focusing on providing high volume low complexity surgery, as recommended by the Royal College of Surgeons of England. There are currently 95 elective surgical hubs that are operational across England as of 16 November 2023. These surgical hubs will help separate elective care facilities from urgent and emergency care. This includes an elective surgical hub at Sheffield Teaching Hospital, where patients with gynaecological conditions can access surgical treatments.
We are also investing £25 million in women’s health hubs between 2023 and 2025 so that women can get better access to care for essential services such as gynaecology, menstrual problems, contraception and the menopause.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Assistance Committee handbook for data reporters and users, The OECD-DAC policy marker on the inclusion and empowerment of persons with disabilities, published in December 2020, how many projects in receipt of Official Development Assistance (ODA) from his Department scored a 1 according to that policy marker; and how much ODA his Department disbursed to those projects to spend on disability inclusion in each calendar year since 2018.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The FCDO uses the OECD-DAC disability policy marker to indicate what level of disability-inclusive activities take place with each bilateral official development assistance (ODA) programme. A score of 1 indicates that at least some deliberate disability-inclusive activity is undertaken but disability inclusion is not the main purpose of the programme. A score of 2 indicates that addressing disability inclusion is the primary purpose of the programme.
The table below gives ODA spending and project numbers for DFID and FCO (from 2018 to 2020) and FCDO (2021 onwards). The counts in columns (b) and (e) are for individual projects as reported to the OECD-DAC.
Columns (a), (b) and (c) provides the amount of ODA disbursed and details of projects that scored 2 for the marker.
Column (e) and (f) provides the details on the number of ODA projects that scored 1 for the marker.
Column (d) provides the total amount of ODA disbursed in projects that scored 1 for the marker. No information is collected centrally on the amount of ODA that is disbursed solely for disability inclusive activities in projects scoring 1.
Bilateral ODA projects1 with a DAC disability policy marker = 2 | Bilateral ODA projects1 with a DAC disability policy marker = 1 | |||||
Department | Amount of spending (£ millions) (a) | Number of projects (b) | Proportion of all bilateral projects (c) | Amount of spending (£ millions)2 (d) | Number of projects (e) | Proportion of all bilateral projects (f) |
2018 | ||||||
Department for International Development | 6.7 | 12 | 0.5% | 2,304,139 | 874 | 34.2% |
Foreign & Commonwealth Office | 0.0 | 0 | N/A | 0 | 0 | N/A |
Total | 6.7 | 12 | 0.4% | 2,304,139 | 874 | 26.9% |
2019 | ||||||
Department for International Development | 19.6 | 20 | 0.8% | 2,751,165 | 881 | 35.9% |
Foreign & Commonwealth Office | 0.0 | 0 | N/A | 0 | 0 | N/A |
Total | 19.6 | 20 | 0.7% | 2,751,165 | 881 | 29.6% |
2020 | ||||||
Department for International Development | 22.4 | 17 | 0.7% | 2,366,991 | 838 | 36.1% |
Foreign & Commonwealth Office | 0.0 | 0 | N/A | 42,438 | 124 | N/A |
Total | 22.4 | 17 | 0.6% | 2,409,429 | 962 | 32.8% |
2021 | ||||||
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office | 16.2 | 15 | 0.5% | 1,527,057 | 967 | 32.2% |
20223 | ||||||
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office | 19.0 | 16 | 0.7% | 1,527,146 | 837 | 35.4% |
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Assistance Committee handbook for data reporters and users, The OECD-DAC policy marker on the inclusion and empowerment of persons with disabilities, published in December 2020, how many projects in receipt of Official Development Assistance (ODA) from his Department scored a 2 according to that policy marker; and how much ODA his Department disbursed to those projects in each calendar year since 2018.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The FCDO uses the OECD-DAC disability policy marker to indicate what level of disability-inclusive activities take place with each bilateral official development assistance (ODA) programme. A score of 1 indicates that at least some deliberate disability-inclusive activity is undertaken but disability inclusion is not the main purpose of the programme. A score of 2 indicates that addressing disability inclusion is the primary purpose of the programme.
The table below gives ODA spending and project numbers for DFID and FCO (from 2018 to 2020) and FCDO (2021 onwards). The counts in columns (b) and (e) are for individual projects as reported to the OECD-DAC.
Columns (a), (b) and (c) provides the amount of ODA disbursed and details of projects that scored 2 for the marker.
Column (e) and (f) provides the details on the number of ODA projects that scored 1 for the marker.
Column (d) provides the total amount of ODA disbursed in projects that scored 1 for the marker. No information is collected centrally on the amount of ODA that is disbursed solely for disability inclusive activities in projects scoring 1.
Bilateral ODA projects1 with a DAC disability policy marker = 2 | Bilateral ODA projects1 with a DAC disability policy marker = 1 | |||||
Department | Amount of spending (£ millions) (a) | Number of projects (b) | Proportion of all bilateral projects (c) | Amount of spending (£ millions)2 (d) | Number of projects (e) | Proportion of all bilateral projects (f) |
2018 | ||||||
Department for International Development | 6.7 | 12 | 0.5% | 2,304,139 | 874 | 34.2% |
Foreign & Commonwealth Office | 0.0 | 0 | N/A | 0 | 0 | N/A |
Total | 6.7 | 12 | 0.4% | 2,304,139 | 874 | 26.9% |
2019 | ||||||
Department for International Development | 19.6 | 20 | 0.8% | 2,751,165 | 881 | 35.9% |
Foreign & Commonwealth Office | 0.0 | 0 | N/A | 0 | 0 | N/A |
Total | 19.6 | 20 | 0.7% | 2,751,165 | 881 | 29.6% |
2020 | ||||||
Department for International Development | 22.4 | 17 | 0.7% | 2,366,991 | 838 | 36.1% |
Foreign & Commonwealth Office | 0.0 | 0 | N/A | 42,438 | 124 | N/A |
Total | 22.4 | 17 | 0.6% | 2,409,429 | 962 | 32.8% |
2021 | ||||||
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office | 16.2 | 15 | 0.5% | 1,527,057 | 967 | 32.2% |
20223 | ||||||
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office | 19.0 | 16 | 0.7% | 1,527,146 | 837 | 35.4% |