Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with (a) his counterparts in the G7 and (b) the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the potential need for ongoing annual financial support to ensure the suppression of covid-19 in low- and middle-income nations; and if he will make statement.

The UK is at the forefront of the international COVID-19 response, committing up to £1.3 billion of new ODA to counter the health, economic, and humanitarian impacts of COVID-19, including £500 million to COVAX to provide vaccines to low- and middle-income countries. We have also adapted over 300 existing programmes to respond to the challenges created by COVID-19.

The UK will continue to play a leadership role, including through our G7 Presidency, to strengthen the international response to, and recovery from COVID-19 in low- and middle-income countries. Investing in global health is one of seven ways the UK will prioritise ODA in 2021, to tackle COVID-19 and promote global health security.

We have supported the multilateral development banks to make over $200 billion available to developing countries and will continue to work with the International Financial Institutions and Development Finance Institutions to support a green, inclusive, and resilient recovery globally.