Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following the announcement to reduce Official Development Assistance and ahead of the Third Global Disability Summit, what steps they are taking to protect disability inclusion in giving development aid both now and in the future.

Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK remains committed to investing internationally to build a safer world. As the Prime Minister has made clear we must increase our security and defence spending now. We remain committed to spending 0.7 per cent of Gross National Income on Official Development Assistance (ODA) when the fiscal circumstances allow.

At 16 per cent of the global population, people with disabilities are among the world's most vulnerable, including in times of crisis, climate and humanitarian emergencies. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is committed to mainstreaming a disability inclusion and rights approach across our work and we will also drive stronger international coordination to advance global disability inclusion progress. We will set out our spending plans following the completion of the Spending Review and departmental resource allocation processes. Equality impact assessments, which consider impacts on disability inclusion, are an essential part of how we make decisions, including on ODA allocations.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of recent settler violence in the West Bank.

Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

Settler violence is unacceptable, and settlements are illegal under international law. The Foreign Secretary has been clear with Israeli ministers that they must clamp down on settler violence and end settler expansion and has previously met with Palestinian communities in the West Bank to hear how they are affected. On 15 October, the Foreign Secretary announced sanctions targeting three illegal settler outposts and four organisations that have supported and sponsored violence against communities in the West Bank. These measures will help bring accountability to those who have supported and perpetrated such heinous abuses of human rights. As the Foreign Secretary said in Parliament on 1 April, we continue to keep these issues under review but the culture of impunity for those engaged in violence is intolerable.