Oral Answers to Questions

Steve Brine Excerpts

Wednesday 4th December 2013 Commons Chamber

[Justine Greening]

I certainly will. I think that to date the Philippines public appeal has raised well over £65 million, which shows that the British public are incredibly generous in reaching out to people who have been affected by disaster. That generosity is appreciated by people in the Philippines, and when I visited the Philippines its Foreign Minister underlined his heartfelt support to the British people.

[Steve Brine]

Like Worcester’s New Hope, mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for Worcester (Mr Walker), the Filipino Association in Hampshire is also making this year’s festive party a fundraiser to send money back home. What is the Department doing to help developing countries build resilience to natural disasters?

[Justine Greening]

We had already commenced work with the Government of the Philippines, in particular, on disaster resilience. For some time now, the country has done work in preparing itself to cope with these natural disasters, because it is in a part of the world that is particularly prone to them. The size of the typhoon would clearly pose challenges for any country, however prepared it was. There are still lessons to be learned about better preparation, not only at national level but at local level too.