Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much and what proportion of its budget the UK Integrated Security Fund has allocated for (a) conflict (i) prevention and (ii) resolution and (b) peacebuilding in the (A) 2024-25 and (B) 2025-26 financial years.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Integrated Security Fund (ISF) came into operation on 1 April 2024 and has a budget of almost £1bn for Financial Year 2024-25. The Fund prioritises spending on those geographies and thematic issues that pose the greatest direct threat to the UK. Activity focussed on conflict prevention, resolution and peacebuilding are embedded into programmes across the ISF. However, these are not tracked as individual or separate components. The annual ISF budget for 2025-26 will be published shortly.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the annual budget is for the UK Integrated Security Fund in the (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2025-26 financial years.
Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Integrated Security Fund (ISF) came into operation on 1 April 2024 and has a budget of almost £1bn for Financial Year 2024/25. Exact spend for the Fund will be published in the 2024/25 ISF Annual Report later in the year. The annual ISF budget for 2025-26 will be published shortly.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2017 to Question 108244, on Prosperity Fund, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of Prosperity Fund projects on gender equality in developing countries.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
All Prosperity Fund Official Development Assistance (ODA) spending must comply with the International Development Act 2002 and Gender Equality Act 2014. Large, multi-year Prosperity Fund programmes are being developed, building on the foundations laid by smaller projects in 2016/17.
The multi-year Prosperity Fund programmes will include an assessment on gender equality and inclusion. We are implementing a gender strategy to develop these assessments using specialist capability. An external monitoring and evaluation mechanism is in place that will provide information on the impact of programmes on gender equality.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2017 to Question 108244, on Prosperity Fund, what strategy he has for Prosperity Fund programmes explicitly to tackle issues of gender inequality in developing countries as required by the International Development Act 2002.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The Prosperity Fund is implementing a gender strategy covering programme selection, design, monitoring and evaluation. The multi-year Prosperity Fund programmes currently being developed will include an assessment of how programmes address the issue of gender inequality and inclusion. Measurement of progress will be part of the Prosperity Fund’s monitoring and evaluation.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he has taken to ensure that spending from the Prosperity Fund takes place across Government in accordance with (a) the provisions of the International Development Act 2002 and (b) international commitments on overseas development assistance.
Answered by Damian Green
The Prosperity Fund is focused on high impact projects to promote economic
development and poverty reduction in the developing world. All Official Development
Assistance spend under the cross-government Prosperity Fund (PF) is fully
consistent with the International Development Act (including the Gender Equality
2014) and OECD DAC criteria. The Fund’s priorities were set out in the UK Aid
Strategy (2015) and the Strategic Defence Security Review (SDSR 2015). The Fund
also supports the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG
8 to “Promote inclusive and sustainable growth, employment and decent work for all”.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many posts related to EU negotiations the Government had planned to fill to date; and how many such posts have been filled.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
Workforce planning is primarily the responsibility of each department. The Civil Service constantly reviews its capabilities in order to deliver the Government's commitment to leave the EU and get the best deal for the UK. Civil Service HR is working with all departments, functions and professions across the Civil Service to better understand their capacity and capability requirements.
The Civil Service is focused on delivering this Government’s commitment to leave the EU and get the very best deal for the UK. We are equipping ourselves with the right people and the right skills across government to make this happen.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that the Civil Service has the (a) project planning, (b) benefits realisation and (c) contract management capabilities required for negotiations with the EU.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
Workforce planning is primarily the responsibility of each department. The Civil Service constantly reviews its capabilities in order to deliver the Government's commitment to leave the EU and get the best deal for the UK. Civil Service HR is working with all departments, functions and professions across the Civil Service to better understand their capacity and capability requirements.
The Civil Service is focused on delivering this Government’s commitment to leave the EU and get the very best deal for the UK. We are equipping ourselves with the right people and the right skills across government to make this happen.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if the Government will pause of delay any capital projects to concentrate resources on negotiations with the EU.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
The government remains committed to the successful delivery of our priorities. We constantly review our capabilities in order to deliver both the government's commitment to leave the EU and get the best deal for the UK.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Prime Minister, whether she discussed the role and place of the devolved administrations in forthcoming EU negotiations during her conversations on 17 January 2017 with EU Council President Tusk, EU Commission President Juncker, German Chancellor Merkel and French President Hollande.
Answered by Baroness May of Maidenhead
I spoke to EU Council President Tusk, EU Commission President Juncker, German Chancellor Merkel and French President Hollande to discuss the UK’s objectives in the negotiations and future relationship with the EU.
The UK Government is committed to working with the Devolved Administrations as we prepare for our negotiations with the EU which is why we set up the Joint Ministerial Committee on EU Negotiations.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to ensure adequate civil service support for new government departments.
Answered by Ben Gummer
The Cabinet Office is responsible for the majority of cross-cutting government services that make corporate changes easier, including supporting new departments to build their capability. For the two most recently established departments (the Department for Exiting the European Union and the Department for International Trade) we provided practical guidance, and for the Department for Exiting the European Union in particular, interim Estates, IT, HR, finance, security and telephony services.