Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how much and what proportion of UK Official Development Assistance spending has been on (a) 16-19 education, (b) adult education and (c) education in total in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
Education is an important international development priority. From 2013 to 2022, the UK is estimated to have spent £6.9 billion of bilateral education Official Development Assistance (ODA). Of this, £1 billion was spent on secondary education and £1 billion on post-secondary education including scholarships. The UK is estimated to have spent £2.3 billion in multilateral education ODA from 2012 to 2021. Of this, £451 million was spent on secondary education and £381 million was spent on post-secondary education. Annual breakdowns of UK ODA spend on education, including as a proportion of total spend, are available here: [https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-on-international-development]
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how much of the funding pledged by the UK at COP26 for the Just Energy Transition in South Africa has been allocated; and what information his Department holds on how much of the total funding pledged at COP26 for the Just Energy Transition in South Africa has been allocated as of 28 November 2023.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
The Just Energy Partnership (JETP) is a decades long endeavour which has made good progress since its inception in 2021. The original members of the International Partners Group (IPG) have increased their grant offer by 57 per cent since COP26 (from $329 million to $517 million). With the addition of the Netherlands and Denmark to the IPG, grant financing has increased by 116 per cent to $713 million. Approximately 50 per cent of the pledged grant funding has been committed, and 35 per cent is in the planning stages. Total financing from the IPG has expanded to $9.3 billion. $1.3 billion of IPG loans have been signed - with Euro 600 million disbursed.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how much and what proportion of UK Official Development Assistance spending has been on green skills in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
Recently we have supported green skills development in Mexico, Kenya, South Africa and Indonesia through the Skills for Prosperity programme and released a position paper laying out our position on girls' education and skills development and the role they play in addressing the climate crisis. Green skills is not currently tracked as a specific marker in UK ODA spending.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to support the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan.
Answered by David Rutley
The Government are working with international partners, including the G7, G20 and through the UN, to advocate for the rights of women and girls and to coordinate an international response. We have repeatedly condemned the Taliban's decisions to restrict the rights of women and girls, including through UN Security Council, Human Rights Council resolutions and public statements.
We continue to support the delivery of education, through bilateral and multilateral contributions. On 27 June, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad, Minister for South Asia hosted a meeting of Afghan women leaders to discuss the impact of the Taliban's restrictions on Afghan women as well as the inclusion of Afghan women in the future political process.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has with (a) international partners and (b) the UN on recent reports of cases of schoolgirls in Afghanistan being poisoned and hospitalised.
Answered by David Rutley
FCDO officials regularly press the Taliban on all human rights issues, including the rights of women and girls. Reports of poisonings of schoolgirls in Afghanistan are very worrying. We are working closely with our mission in Doha, international partners, NGOs and the UN to continue to monitor the reports. Lord (Tariq) Ahmad, Minister for South Asia, has made clear that it is essential that all girls can exercise their human right to education without fear.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the proportion of invoices his Department paid to small and medium-sized enterprises within five days in (a) the 2021-2022 financial year and (b) each of the last 12 months.
Answered by David Rutley
Data on the prompt payment statistics for FCDO pertaining to financial year 2021/22 can be found published at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fcdo-prompt-payment-data-2021-to-2022. Publication of data for financial year 22/23 has been delayed by the implementation of a new Finance system in the second half of 2022, but will be published as soon as it is available. The FCDO aims to pay all valid invoices from all UK suppliers, including small to medium-sized enterprises, as quickly as possible, and as the published statistics show our average success rate in paying invoices within 5 days between April 2021 and March 2022 was circa 95 percent. The Procurement Bill, currently passing through Parliament, will create a simpler and more transparent procurement regime that will further open up public procurement to SMEs.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the adherence to human rights in Balochistan.
Answered by Leo Docherty
Pakistan is an FCDO human rights priority country. The UK regularly engages the Government of Pakistan at a senior level on the need to respect human rights and uphold the rule of law. On 30 January, Minister for South Asia, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, discussed the human rights situation with Minister for Human Rights Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 9 March 2023 to Question 156161 on Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Advisory Bodies, whether he has an indicative agenda for the meetings of the panel.
Answered by David Rutley
The agenda will be aligned to commitments and targeted actions set out in FCDO Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Action Plan, taking account of feedback from suppliers during the call for applications. Future agenda's will be shaped with input from panel members on how best to deliver actions and improvements collaboratively with FCDO.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 9 March 2023 to Question 156161 on Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Advisory Bodies, if he will publish an indicative timeline of when the panel's membership will be known.
Answered by David Rutley
Potential Panel members have been shortlisted and have been contacted and asked to confirm acceptance. The names of the organisations will be published on FCDO website by 30 April 2023 ahead of the first meeting of the group.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 9 March 2023 to Question 156161 on Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Advisory Bodies, whether his Department has made an assessment of the expected cost of the panel.
Answered by David Rutley
The panel members have agreed to participate on a voluntary basis. The Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Advisory Panel will be run by FCDO employees and utilises FCDO facilities.