Asked by: Lord Spencer of Alresford (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of their economic strategy on (1) productivity, and (2) international confidence in the UK market.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Increasing productivity is vital in driving economic growth, in turn improving the living standards of working people and putting money into people’s pockets. That is why growth is the priority mission of this government and why we continue to take steps to boost productivity.
This includes increasing the capital envelope by £120 billion over the SR period. Additional capacity announced at Spending Review 2025 and the 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy has allowed the government to increase the capacity of Public Financial Institutions by around 60% this Parliament, to £153 billion. We are also removing barriers to investment through ambitious planning reforms, and championing growth-enhancing sectors through our modern Industrial Strategy.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), in its role as an independent economic forecaster, has assessed the impact of the increase in capital departmental expenditure limits (CDEL) announced at Autumn Budget 2024 and the planning reforms set out at Spring Statement 2025. The OBR estimated that the CDEL increase would raise real GDP by approximately 0.26% after ten years, while the planning reforms were assessed to increase real GDP by around 0.42% over the same period.
Asked by: Lord Spencer of Alresford (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what they are doing to support Kenya in its fight against malaria following recent flooding which threatens to derail gains in that fight.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Lord Chamberlain (HM Household)
The UK is one of the largest contributors to the fight against malaria in Kenya. We have contributed £5.5 billion since 2002 to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which is procuring additional malaria commodities for Kenya, including distributing over ten million bed nets for malaria prevention. We support the recently announced rollout of malaria vaccines - which includes Kenya - through Gavi, the Vaccines Alliance, to whom we have pledged £1.65 billion between 2020 and 2025. We support the Kenya Medical Research Institute to increase malaria surveillance and treatment across Kenya.
Asked by: Lord Spencer of Alresford (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to weaken Russian influence in Africa; in particular, Russian support for military governments in (1) Mali, and (2) Sudan.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK has regularly voiced concern at Russia's malign influence across Africa, which includes Russian support to a number of different elements of the Sudanese Armed Forces. Senior FCDO officials have raised such concerns directly with Sudan's military leadership in Khartoum. Troika Heads of Mission (the USA, the UK and Norway) in Khartoum also published an op-ed on 21 March highlighting how Russian malign influence and Wagner Group activities in Sudan spread disinformation, and undermine good governance and the rule of law. The Wagner Group is a Russian paramilitary organisation. It is variously described as a private military company, a network of mercenaries, or a de facto private army of President Putin.
The UK is deeply concerned about the activities of the Wagner Group in Mali. We are horrified by reports which suggest that hundreds of people were killed in Moura, following a CT operation carried out by the Malian Armed Forces in March with the alleged involvement of Wagner Group. Minister Ford issued a statement on 5 April calling for an urgent, transparent and impartial investigation to bring those responsible to justice. She urged the Malian authorities to end all ties with the mercenary group. The UK is committed to building long-term stability in Mali. We are using UK programming to improve stabilisation efforts, enhance civil-military coordination and strengthen local conflict resolution mechanisms.
Asked by: Lord Spencer of Alresford (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact the Russian invasion of Ukraine on food poverty and the humanitarian crises in Sub-Saharan Africa; and what steps they plan to take to support that region as a result.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The devastation being caused in Ukraine has implications globally. This is seen in the rising prices of staple foods at a time when there is already food insecurity in Sub-Saharan Africa exacerbated by conflict, climate shocks and the economic impact of Covid-19. The FCDO will continue to encourage open trade to facilitate the movement of food and prioritise humanitarian assistance in particular, to prevent famine. The UK is currently the fourth largest humanitarian donor in Sub-Saharan Africa and we have demonstrated our commitment to tackling food insecurity through a Call to Action on Famine Prevention and brokering a Compact through our G7 Presidency. These include a commitment to mobilise humanitarian funding and a diplomatic focus on the most severe crises - the majority of which are in Africa. We will continue to work with G7 partners to mitigate the risk of an extended global food price crisis and to maintain food security.