Hospital Ships: Procurement
(asked on 5th March 2020) - View Source
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to use the foreign aid budget to procure a hospital ship.
Answered by
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
DFID and the Ministry of Defence already work closely together to respond to humanitarian emergencies including using ships for relief efforts. For example, following Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas last September, RFA Mounts Bay played a critical role in the UK response.
As set out in the UK Humanitarian Reform Plan, the UK Government is committed ensuring a bigger, better, faster response capability which is able to respond to a range of different natural disasters.
No decision has been made on the construction or operation of a UK hospital ship, and we will continue to ensure that UKaid is deployed in a way that maximises value for money for development and the UK taxpayer.