Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much funding he plans to provide for the (a) Child Nutrition Fund, (b) Child Wasting Innovation Programme, (c) ready-to-use therapeutic foods and (d) other nutrition programmes in each of the next three financial years.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Decisions on how the Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget will be used will be worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review. We are currently unable to confirm exact levels of funding for the outer years until the spending review for this period has been completed.
The majority of funding for ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) and other nutrition programmes is administered by Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) country offices, and allocated through humanitarian programmes. It is therefore not possible to know in advance how much will be spent on nutrition. The FCDO retrospectively publishes nutrition spend on an annual basis. The most recent available data is from 2022 and can be found online.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has received representations on delays or challenges in securing the return of British children from Poland under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This Government takes International Parental Child Abduction (IPCA) extremely seriously. Affected parents have reported issues to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office regarding the enforcement of Polish court orders requiring the return of abducted children to the UK. I met the Rt. Honourable Member's constituent in January to discuss his daughter's abduction and the devastating toll IPCA takes on those affected. This Government will continue to raise the issue at every appropriate opportunity with the Polish authorities, including at ministerial level.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
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 his Polish counterpart on improving cooperation in (a) cross-border family law cases and (b) cases involving parental child abduction; and what recent steps he has taken to improve the effectiveness of Hague Convention mechanisms in cases involving the abduction of children from the UK to (i) EU countries and (ii) Poland.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This Government takes International Parental Child Abduction (IPCA) extremely seriously. As a signatory to the 1980 Hague Convention, the UK remains committed to the effective enforcement of court orders requiring a child's return to their place of habitual residence. On 19 December 2024, the Foreign Secretary raised the issue of IPCA in Poland with Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski. On 28 February, I raised the issue with my Polish counterpart, Minister Marek Prawda, and with the Polish Ambassador to the UK on 29 April 2025. HMG officials also raise issues directly with Polish authorities. The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, Ministry of Justice, and other key UK authorities hosted a Polish delegation in April to enhance cooperation and improve outcomes in cross-border family cases.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of using forecasts of Gross National Income to determine future levels of official development assistance on actual future levels of official development assistance.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Official Development Assistance (ODA) budgets from 2025/26 onwards are set in cash terms based on Gross National Income (GNI) forecasts. This change means that the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office's ODA budgets will no longer be exposed to the volatility of ODA spending by other departments, including asylum costs.
As the Minister of State for International Development set out in her 27 March letter to the International Development Committee, this is a significant and positive change to the way the FCDO manages its ODA budget, increasing the predictability of our budgets and allowing us to plan with more certainty.
Asked by: Josh Babarinde (Liberal Democrat - Eastbourne)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the planned reduction in international aid on (a) global poverty and (b) international relationships.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Prime Minister has set out a new strategic vision for government spending on defence and security, and official development assistance. Detailed decisions on how the Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget will be used will be worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review on the basis of various factors including the likely impact on the UK's international partnerships with developing nations.
The government remains fully committed to the UK playing a globally significant role on development; it is both in our national interest and in the interest of our partners. Our mission remains to help create a world free from poverty on a liveable planet.
Asked by: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall and Camberwell Green)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of UK efforts to increase the global availability of medicines to prevent HIV.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK remains committed to sustainable development goal 3.3 including ending AIDS by 2030. The UK supports partners including UNAIDS, Unitaid, and the Global Fund to improve equitable access to HIV prevention services tailored to individual needs. In 2023, the Global Fund partnership reached 17.9 million people with HIV prevention services. Unitaid recently committed $17 million in market-shaping grants to accelerate affordable access to long-acting lenacapavir for HIV prevention. UK investment in research and development supported the development of the dapivirine vaginal ring, another important tool for HIV prevention.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of using UK microbiology expertise to build capacity in Ukraine for countering antimicrobial resistance.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In February, the Defence Secretary announced that we would double our funding to £40 million for Project Renovator, which draws on the UK's leading defence medical expertise to expand Ukraine's military rehabilitation and medical services. Through a partnership with the Unbroken Rehabilitation Centre, Imperial Healthcare NHS Trust have launched an infection control programme which aims to strengthen capacity and capability of medical personnel in both the UK and Ukraine to manage the healthcare burden created by anti-microbial resistance.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his US counterpart on ending the Ukraine-Russia war.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We share President Trump's desire to bring this barbaric war to an end and remain in close touch with the US at every level. Following talks between the US and Ukraine on 11 March, and the US and Russia on 13 March, the Foreign Secretary spoke to Secretary of State Rubio. The Foreign Secretary also spoke to the Secretary of State on 22 April prior to the peace talks between the US, Ukraine, France, Germany and the UK.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of using the International Finance Facility for immunisation on delivering development projects.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is one of the largest donors to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. We have committed £1.65 billion to the current strategic period covering 2021-2025, including £590 million through the International Finance Facility for Immunisation (IFFIm). The UK is working to ensure a successful replenishment of Gavi's 2026-2030 programme through our diplomatic and development network. Following the difficult decision to reduce UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) from 0.5 per cent of GNI to 0.3 per cent by 2027 we are taking a rigorous approach to ensure all ODA delivers value for money and we are considering all financial instruments available. Announcements on individual investments will be made following the completion of the Spending Review process.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what information his Department holds on the number of (a) NGOs and (b) charities in receipt of funding from his Department that have issued legal proceedings against the Government.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
There is no on-going litigation against the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (the Department) in respect of claims issued directly by NGOs or charities currently in receipt of funding from the Department.