Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to progress the allocation of the £5 million commitment to developing nursing made to commemorate Florence Nightingale's bicentenary.

The government is committed to supporting nursing and midwifery development in low and low-middle income countries through our work on strengthening health systems. This includes significant investment in global health initiatives, for example our £1.4 billion contribution to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria (2020-2024). With the closure of the UK Partnerships for Health Systems, programme we will not meet the commitment to allocate £5 million to support the development of nurses and midwives.