Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Secretary of State for International Trade's speech at the Centre for Policy Studies on 17 December 2020 stating that the Government's approach to equality will not be about targets, whether his Department will continue to have targets for increasing the number of girls supported by the UK to have 12 years of quality education.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office plays a leading role in championing every girl's right to 12 years of quality education. We will continue to prioritise girls' education because it is the right thing to do, and because the fortunes of so many of the poorest countries depend on tapping the full potential of all of their people, which must include women and girls in education.

Our global target, working with our partners, is to get 40 million more girls into education by 2025.