To match an exact phrase, use quotation marks around the search term. eg. "Parliamentary Estate". Use "OR" or "AND" as link words to form more complex queries.


View sample alert

Keep yourself up-to-date with the latest developments by exploring our subscription options to receive notifications direct to your inbox

Written Question
Department for International Trade: Sub-Saharan Africa
Monday 26th September 2022

Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many departmental ministerial visits have been made to sub-Saharan Southern Africa since 2019.

Answered by James Duddridge

Department for International Trade Ministers have visited sub–Saharan Africa once since the start of 2019. Former Minister for Exports, the Member for Finchley and Golders Green, visited Nigeria and South Africa in May 2022.

As a former FCO, DFID and FCDO Africa Minister I will be visiting the continent more frequently and will lead on development issues in the department and will help grow Africa out of poverty.


Written Question
Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
Tuesday 19th July 2022

Asked by: Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Labour (Co-op) - Brighton, Kemptown)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the Global Fund’s investment case for the seventh replenishment, including (a) return on investment, (b) how this will support the (i) UK's trading relationships and (ii) economic development of low and middle income countries and (c) value for money.

Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

The UK is the Global Fund's third largest donor historically, investing £4.1 billion since 2002. We are currently reviewing the Global Fund's investment case for the 7th replenishment against the priorities of the International Development Strategy. Modellers have estimated that each £1 invested in the Global Fund's 7th replenishment will deliver £31 of benefits in health gains and economic returns in the low- and middle-income countries where the Global Fund invests. The Global Fund offers good value for money, delivering health best buys such as market shaping, prevention, and ensuring that interventions reach the most vulnerable. Moreover, investment in the Global Fund complements the UK's trade offer to developing countries, where our aim is to give these countries the tools they need to lift themselves out of poverty.


Written Question
Tuberculosis: Disease Control
Monday 23rd May 2022

Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the International Development Strategy, if she will make an assessment of the potential effect of increased trade between the UK and non-EU countries on TB outcomes for the world's poorest and most marginalised people.

Answered by Amanda Milling - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

The UK's independent trade policy supports developing partners to lift themselves out of poverty, to build back better after the global pandemic, and to reduce their dependency on aid. This includes ensuring the free flow of critical goods such as medical supplies.


Written Question
UK Relations with EU: Statistics
Thursday 17th March 2022

Asked by: Baroness Lister of Burtersett (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, for statistical collaboration between the UK and the EU as set out in the UK–EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement, with regard to data related to (1) poverty, and (2) living standards.

Answered by Lord True - Leader of the House of Lords and Lord Privy Seal

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the noble peer’s Parliamentary Question of 03 March is attached.

Professor Sir Ian Diamond | National Statistician

Baroness Lister of Burtersett
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW

14 March 2022

Dear Lady Lister,
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking about plans for arrangements for statistical cooperation between the UK and EU, as set out in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, in regard to data on poverty and living standards (HL6621).


The UK Statistics Authority has been engaging with Eurostat on arrangements for statistical cooperation that would fulfil the role set out in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. It is our ambition that a future arrangement on statistical cooperation will cover a range of areas of mutual interest, though further engagement will be needed before the scope of any arrangement can be confirmed. The details of any arrangement will be made available once discussions conclude.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Sir Ian Diamond


Written Question
Rwanda: Politics and Government
Monday 10th January 2022

Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the political situation in Rwanda.

Answered by Vicky Ford

We remain concerned about civil and political rights in Rwanda, and the space for opposition voices. We firmly believe that a strong opposition and vibrant civil society is vital for a healthy and well-functioning democracy and that civil society and opposition parties must be able to operate freely, holding the Government to account and contributing to the debate on how Rwanda should be governed.  We regularly raise specific cases of human rights concern with the Government of Rwanda and the Rwanda Investigation Bureau, both through the British High Commission in Kigali and at Ministerial level.

The UK continues to have a strong relationship and wide-ranging political engagement with Rwanda, including on important priorities such as open societies, girls' education, building back from COVID-19, climate, security and trade. Rwanda has made significant progress on social and economic rights since the genocide, and on delivering development: UK support has helped lift over 2 million Rwandans out of poverty since 2005, and Rwanda is one of the only countries where women make up more than 50% of parliamentarians.


Written Question
Economic Situation: Equality
Thursday 16th December 2021

Asked by: Lord Hylton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the policies of (1) Brazil, (2) France, (3) Denmark, and (4) Bolivia, towards reducing economic inequalities; and what steps they plan to take on the basis of such assessment.

Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park

The UK monitors the economic situation in many countries around the world, including economic inequalities, and related policy measures.

Notwithstanding recent gains, Brazil has one of the world's most unequal income distributions as measured by the Gini index. Since its creation in 2003, Brazil's largest welfare cash-transfer programme, Bolsa Familia, has lifted 3.4 million people out of extreme poverty, and brought 3.2 million above the poverty line. During the pandemic, the Brazilian Government spent approximately 4% of GDP to reach almost 70 million vulnerable citizens with direct cash transfers. It now aims to reform and expand Bolsa Familia. A UK-World Bank project is assessing how emergency aid was provided, and how social protection responses can be improved.

The UK and France work closely across the G7, UN, and elsewhere, to reduce economic inequality around the world. In their bilateral meeting on 12 December, the Foreign Secretary agreed with French Foreign Minister Le Drian on the importance of deepening economic ties with allies, and working together to boost economic growth in low-] and middle-income countries. As likeminded partners, the UK and Denmark also regularly share best practice on issues of shared interest. The UK recognises Denmark's fiscal equalisation mechanism, which helps reduce economic inequalities between regions.

Bolivia has made significant gains on inequality in the past 20 years, with its Gini index dropping from 61.6 to 41.6. This was in large part due to a commodities boom, which allowed the Government fiscal space to initiate cash transfers to the poorest in society, and increase investment in public infrastructure. The middle class doubled between 2007 and 2017 (from 13.4% to 28.3% of the population), and the poverty rate fell from 64.5% to 39.3%. The UK continues to work with the Bolivian Government on a range of areas, including trade, investment, and tourism.


Written Question
Trade Agreements: Eswatini
Wednesday 28th July 2021

Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps she plans to take under the terms of Annex VII, Part 1, Article 3 of the UK-SACUM Economic Partnership Agreement in response to recent reports of human rights abuses in the Kingdom of Eswatini.

Answered by Ranil Jayawardena

The United Kingdom is concerned by the recent events in Eswatini. When considering the essential and fundamental provisions in an Economic Partnership Agreement, we consider the economic and developmental impact to that partner and its people.

We raise the need to uphold rights and responsibilities with governments around the world, and we want to continue encouraging trade too – helping those most in need by providing valuable employment and lifting them out of poverty – as more trade, more jobs and more prosperity need not come at the expense of British values.


Written Question
Trade Agreements: Eswatini
Wednesday 28th July 2021

Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment she has made of the compatibility of recent reports of human rights abuses in the Kingdom of Eswatini with that country's commitments under Annex VII, Part 1, Article 3 of the UK-SACUM Economic Partnership Agreement.

Answered by Ranil Jayawardena

The United Kingdom is concerned by the recent events in Eswatini. When considering the essential and fundamental provisions in an Economic Partnership Agreement, we consider the economic and developmental impact to that partner and its people.

We raise the need to uphold rights and responsibilities with governments around the world, and we want to continue encouraging trade too – helping those most in need by providing valuable employment and lifting them out of poverty – as more trade, more jobs and more prosperity need not come at the expense of British values.


Written Question
Trade Agreements: Eswatini
Wednesday 28th July 2021

Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)

Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment she has made of the implications for her international trade policies of recent reports of human rights abuses including the use of (a) live ammunition, (b) tear gas and (c) water cannon against pro-democracy protestors in the Kingdom of Eswatini.

Answered by Ranil Jayawardena

The United Kingdom is concerned by the recent events in Eswatini. When considering the essential and fundamental provisions in an Economic Partnership Agreement, we consider the economic and developmental impact to that partner and its people.

We raise the need to uphold rights and responsibilities with governments around the world, and we want to continue encouraging trade too – helping those most in need by providing valuable employment and lifting them out of poverty – as more trade, more jobs and more prosperity need not come at the expense of British values.


Written Question
Overseas Aid
Monday 22nd March 2021

Asked by: Lord Roberts of Llandudno (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government which countries are having the amount of aid provided by the Government reduced.

Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Foreign Secretary has set out seven core priorities for the UK's aid budget in the overarching pursuit of poverty reduction: climate and biodiversity; Covid and global health security; girls' education; science and research; defending open societies and resolving conflict; humanitarian assistance; and promoting trade and economic growth. We are working through our internal business planning process which will allocate the ODA budget across these priorities and geographies.

No final decisions have yet been made on budget allocations for 2021/22.