Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent discussions he has had with the Palestinian Authority on the removal and replacement of textbooks from schools in the Palestinian Territories as a result of reports of anti-Semitic and extremist content in those books.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK government is deeply concerned about allegations of incitement in Palestinian Authority’s school textbooks. Ministers have regularly raised the issue of incitement in the education sector with the PA’s Minister for Education,?which the Secretary of State did most recently in February this year.?We are pleased that the PA are undertaking a review of their textbooks and updating them in time for the new academic year in September.
Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate she has made of the amount of UK funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency that was disbursed on education using Palestinian Authority approved textbooks in the latest period for which figures are available.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
In 2018/19 DFID provided £65.5 million to UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) including £47.5 million to UNRWA’s programme budget, which includes their education programme. On average UNRWA spends 58% of this budget on education enabling UNRWA to educate more than 533,000 children, half of whom are girls. Around 325,000 children attend schools in Gaza and the West Bank.
Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to support the development of (a) an airport and (b) port infrastructure in Montserrat to assist that country's economic growth.
Answered by Wendy Morton
DFID is investing in infrastructure on the island of Montserrat to promote economic growth and build resilience to natural disasters. This includes resurfacing the runway at the John Osborne airport. This action is necessary to prevent the airport from being closed by the regulator, thereby cutting off a key source of access to and from the island.
DFID is also providing support through the UK Caribbean Infrastructure Fund (UK CIF) managed by the Caribbean Development Bank for improved port facilities in Montserrat. Procurement is underway for the design and build of a new jetty and associated works.
Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans she has to replace European Development Funds with Official Development Assistance to support British Overseas Territories following the UK's exit from the EU.
Answered by Wendy Morton
Under the Withdrawal Agreement Article 152, paragraph 3 confirms that the Overseas Territories (OTs) shall benefit from EDF11 until its closure. Based on current patterns of expenditure, we reliably estimate they will continue to have access to EDF 11 until 2024 and possibly beyond.
After we leave the EU, we will want to take our own decisions about how to deliver the policy objectives previously targeted by EU funding. The UK Government will take account of the impact of EU Exit on the Overseas Territories, including the question of access to EDF funds, to ensure that we discharge our full responsibilities to the OTs.
Asked by: Scott Benton (Independent - Blackpool South)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment he has made of the proportion of his Department's budget that is allocated to (a) women's reproductive programmes and initiatives and (b) abortions.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Between 2013/14 – 2017/18 DFID’s average direct bilateral expenditure, under the sector codes Reproductive Health care, Maternal and Neonatal health, and Training of Personnel was nearly £218 million each year. This excludes direct bilateral expenditure on family planning, which is reported separately. To note, this £218 million does not cover DFID’s core contributions to multilateral organisations such as the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) which also provide reproductive health care services in developing countries.
Data for all sector codes and spend are available on the Statistics for International Development website, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-on-international-development-uk-gross-public-expenditure-gpex.
As DFID takes an integrated approach to our programming on sexual and reproductive health and rights, it is not possible to give a specific figure for our funding for safe abortion.