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Written Question
Developing Countries: Health Services
Tuesday 4th August 2020

Asked by: Lord Kennedy of Southwark (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of progress towards the Every Woman Every Child goals.

Answered by Baroness Sugg

The UK government welcomes the Independent Accountability Panel’s recently published report. The report highlights that global progress towards the Every Woman Every Child 2030 targets were already lagging by around 20%, and now with the current COVID-19 pandemic are likely to slip further, with significant impacts for pregnant women, children and adolescents.

The UK Government is committed to work with others to end preventable deaths of mothers, newborns and children by 2030. We are working to ensure essential health services continue despite the challenges of the pandemic. Our approach covers sexual and reproductive health and rights, maternal and new-born health, nutrition, and water, sanitation and hygiene services, all of which can help prevent mothers, new-borns and children dying unnecessarily.

We are also leading internationally: the UK hosted the Global Vaccine Summit on 4 June and raised $8.8 billion for GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance’s, next five years (2021-2025) of work, including the UK’s pledge of £1.65 billion. Using these vital funds, GAVI will immunise a further 300 million children and save up to 8 million lives against vaccine preventable diseases.


Written Question
CDC: Tax Havens
Tuesday 4th August 2020

Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to prohibit CDC Group from investing in companies based in tax havens or linked to companies based in tax havens.

Answered by Baroness Sugg

There is no internationally recognised definition of a “tax haven.” CDC respects the tax policies of governments and supports their ability to tax. Whilst the development of domestic tax policy is the responsibility of governments, CDC requires its investee companies to approach tax is a responsible manner. CDC requires that: investee companies should be compliant, should not engage in base erosion and profit shifting, and should not engage in egregious tax planning.

Wherever possible, CDC invests directly into the country in which an investee company is located. If CDC invests through an intermediate country, it does so only if the country is compliant with international tax transparency standards as monitored by the OECD’s Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Tax information.

CDC’s policy on the payment of taxes and the use of offshore financial centres is available on CDCs website. This policy has been agreed with DFID and is reviewed annually.


Written Question
Overseas Aid
Monday 3rd August 2020

Asked by: Lord Chidgey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made, if any, of the proportion of the UK aid budget now spent outside of the Department for International Development.

Answered by Baroness Sugg

In 2019, 27% of UK ODA was spent outside of the Department for International Development. This includes spend by other government departments and funds as well as non-departmental spend such as debt relief and the proportion of gift aid used on ODA eligible activities.


Written Question
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Public Expenditure
Monday 3rd August 2020

Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that part of the budget of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is ring-fenced for the provision of international aid.

Answered by Baroness Sugg

We will continue to look at how this money can be spent most effectively in our national interest, including through the Integrated Review – which will inform the priorities of the new Department. Development spending will remain central to the new department’s mission. Our commitment to spending 0.7 percent of our national income on aid is enshrined in law and we will continue to be guided by our responsibilities under the International Development Act, including a commitment to poverty reduction.


Written Question
Zimbabwe: Humanitarian Situation
Monday 3rd August 2020

Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe.

Answered by Baroness Sugg

The UK is extremely concerned about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe. Before the onset of COVID-19, Zimbabwe was already facing a humanitarian crisis due to drought, poor government policies and a worsening economy. According to the World Food Programme’s latest estimates, by December more than half the population – 8.6 million Zimbabweans – will be without the food they need. In response, the UK has committed £49m to provide humanitarian food aid and cash transfers, as well as £5m for the UNICEF cholera fund. To date, 448,000 extremely vulnerable people have received food assistance and 100,000 living in urban areas have received cash transfers


Written Question
Overseas Aid: Coronavirus
Monday 3rd August 2020

Asked by: Lord Chidgey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made, if any, of the reduction in the annual UK aid budget as a result of the reduction in the UK Gross National Income due to the economic impact of COVID-19.

Answered by Baroness Sugg

Given the likely decrease in the size of the economy this year, and therefore a decrease in the value of the 0.7% commitment, a package of £2.9bn of reductions in the Government’s planned ODA spend has been agreed. This package includes underspends, delaying activity and stopping some spend. The package will see some reductions made now, with arrangements in place to tailor spending further during the remaining months as we start to gain a clearer economic picture. As normal, there will continue to be adjustments in-year to individual departmental ODA spend to meet the 0.7% commitment.


Written Question
Overseas Aid: Poverty
Monday 3rd August 2020

Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their announcement that they have identified a £2.9 billion package of reductions in their planned Official Development Assistance spend, what steps they are taking to ensure that reductions in such spend are made to programmes that have been found to be less effective at poverty alleviation.

Answered by Baroness Sugg

The First Secretary led a careful review process to look at every strand of the ODA budget and assess the impacts of spend. ODA spend for 2020 was prioritised to focus on key strategic objectives including poverty reduction for the ‘bottom billion’, tackling climate change and reversing biodiversity loss, championing girls’ education, UK leadership in the global response to Covid-19, and protecting the UK’s science base. These priorities will help the government to deliver our manifesto commitments and ensure that the UK is a global force for good.

The work of UK Aid to reduce poverty will remain central to the new department’s mission and we will continue to be guided by our responsibilities under the International Development Act.


Written Question
Overseas Aid
Monday 3rd August 2020

Asked by: Baroness Sheehan (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the First Secretary of State’s announcement of a £2.9 billion package of reductions to the Government’s planned Official Development Assistance (ODA) spend for 2020 on 22 July, what arrangements they have put in place to tailor ODA spending further during the remaining months of the year.

Answered by Baroness Sugg

The Department, working with HM Treasury and other Government departments, is continually planning to ensure the UK meets its Official Development Assistance (ODA) commitment. As normal, there will continue to be adjustments in-year to individual departmental ODA spend to meet the 0.7% target. DFID has been preparing for this by working with our Ministers and other aid spending Departments to prioritise our lifesaving aid, stop the spread of coronavirus and ensure our aid delivers the best value for money for the British taxpayer.


Written Question
Overseas Aid: Poverty
Monday 3rd August 2020

Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they plan to take to ensure that the merger of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development enables the maintenance of good quality, poverty-focused aid.

Answered by Baroness Sugg

This Government is unashamed in believing that its job is to promote British influence around the world, to try to change the world for the better, and to get best value for the British taxpayer who spends so generously to help others. This change will help us do that.

Our reputation as a world leader on development issues comes from three things: our thought leadership; the scale and quality of UK development programmes; and excellence of our analysis, long term perspective and staff. None of these will change with the creation of the FCDO, but our development work will now be better aligned with foreign policy and the broad UK national interest. It should make our development work even more effective. DFID has been a more effective spender of aid than any other Government department – that expertise must be brought into the centre of the new department.

The work of UK Aid to reduce poverty will remain central to the new department’s mission and we will continue to be guided by our responsibilities under the International Development Act.


Written Question
International Assistance
Monday 3rd August 2020

Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they plan to take to ensure that (1) development and humanitarian concerns are heard at the highest levels of the Government, and (2) there is policy coherence in those areas across Departments.

Answered by Baroness Sugg

From the 1st September, the Foreign Secretary will lead the new Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. His seat at Cabinet will ensure that development and humanitarian concerns are at the heart of Cabinet decision-making. The Integrated Review will refresh systems to ensure policy coherence across HMG.