Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment her Department has made of the effect of Israel’s blockade on Gaza’s capacity to respond to the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UN assesses that although the current number of detected cases remains relatively low in?Gaza?and the West Bank, the capacity of the Palestinian health system to cope with an increase in COVID-19 cases is poor, including the low availability of PPE and ventilators. The situation is particularly severe in?Gaza, where the health system has shortages in specialised staff, drugs and equipment.
The UK remains deeply concerned about the restrictions on movement and access that affect Gaza. The restrictions impact infrastructure development, the delivery of vital humanitarian services and limit the professional development of health and humanitarian workers.
During this global crisis, cooperation is vital. The cooperation between the Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority towards tackling COVID-19, as well as the important part played by the United Nations, was a very welcomed response. The British Embassy in Tel Aviv and the British Consulate-General in Jerusalem are in regular contact with the Israeli and Palestinian authorities respectively. We encourage UN agencies, the PA and the Israeli Government to work together to ensure that essential medical supplies and staff are able to access Gaza.
DFID is providing £1.3 million (2018-21) to support the UN’s Access Coordination Unit (ACU), which works to ensure humanitarian access to Gaza for UN and NGO workers. The ACU has played an important role in facilitating movement of humanitarian personnel and goods during the COVID-19 crisis.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to support the covid-19 response in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UN assesses that although the current number of detected cases remains relatively low in Gaza and the West Bank, the capacity of the Palestinian health system to cope with an increase in COVID-19 cases is poor, including the low availability of PPE and ventilators. The situation is particularly severe in Gaza, where the health system has shortages in specialised staff, drugs and equipment.
The UK has pledged £764 million to support the global humanitarian response to COVID-19. We have delivered additional vital support in the Occupied Palestinian Territories by providing funding to the World Health Organization and UNICEF to purchase and co-ordinate the delivery of medical equipment, treat critical care patients, train frontline public health personnel and scale up laboratory testing capacity. I also recently announced £20 million in new funding, which will help the Palestinian Authority support its health workers who have been on the frontline battling coronavirus.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment her Department has made of the implications for its policies of the recommendations of the overall programme review of the Global Strategy and Plan of Action on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual property of WHO; and what steps the Government plans to take to support the WHO secretariat in promoting transparency in and understanding of the costs of research and development.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The recommendations of the overall programme review of the Global Strategy and Plan of Action on Public Health Innovation and Intellectual property were discussed at the World Health Organisation Executive Board Meeting in January 2018. The UK Government is supportive of the strategy. The UK, together with other Member States, will be involved in further discussions about the recommendations, including work on promoting transparency in and understanding of the costs of research and development, and how to support the WHO Secretariat to take them forward, at the World Health Assembly in May 2018.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how the UK plans to (a) contribute and (b) vote at the World Bank Group (WBG) to ensure that two thirds of WBG support for energy in developing countries supports access to renewable energy and clean cooking for the world's poorest communities.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The UK is using its influence as a major shareholder to encourage the World Bank to prioritise renewable energy where this is part of a country’s least cost expansion plan, including support for clean cooking where relevant. We do so through our interventions in board discussions of the Climate Change Action Plan, the forward pipeline of projects in a country, and the design of specific projects.
We are also funding the World Bank to help developing countries with energy policy development and project implementation.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will ensure that two-thirds of UK support for energy access in developing countries is allocated to centralised, renewable electricity and clean cooking solutions.
Answered by Rory Stewart
Between 2011 and 2016, UK aid provided 12 million people with improved access to clean energy, including through off-grid renewable energy and other clean technologies like more efficient cook stoves. This is enabling businesses to be more productive, children to study after school and keeping women and girls safer after dark.
While DFID funding to energy technologies is informed by the needs of individual countries, the Department retains a strong preference in its bilateral programmes for clean energy solutions. This is consistent with UK leadership internationally, including through the £5.8bn commitment (2016 - 2021) for tackling climate change.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what investments in solar and other renewable energy sources have been made in Africa from her Department's budget in each of the last five years.
Answered by Rory Stewart
Between 2011 and 2016, UK Aid provided 12 million people with improved access to clean energy and installed more than 400 MW of clean energy capacity, of which a significant number are in Africa.
DFID funding for renewable energy is through bilateral programmes and contributions to multilateral funds, multilateral development banks and climate-specific funds such as the Climate Investment Funds (https://devtracker.dfid.gov.uk/projects/GB-1-200368) where there are significant renewable energy ambitions. African renewable energy programme spend for the previous 5 years is publically available through DevTracker.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much of her Department's budget has been spent on renewable energy projects in each of the last five years.
Answered by Rory Stewart
Between 2011 and 2016, UK Aid provided 12 million people with improved access to clean energy and installed more than 400 MW of clean energy capacity.
DFID funding for renewable energy is through bilateral programmes and contributions to multilateral funds, multilateral development banks and climate-specific funds such as the Climate Investment Funds (https://devtracker.dfid.gov.uk/projects/GB-1-200368) where there are significant renewable energy ambitions. Renewable energy programme spend for the previous 5 years is publically available through DevTracker.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of the availability of safe drinking water in the Gaza Strip.
Answered by Alistair Burt
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, most homes in Gaza are only getting water for a few hours every 3-5 days. The availability of safe drinking water has become worse because of fuel and electricity shortages. The UK is urging all parties to find a sustainable solution to the current situation and in the longer term, continues to urge the Israeli authorities to ensure fair distribution of water across the OPTs.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many apprenticeships have been created in her Department in each region in each of the last five years; and how many participants in those apprenticeships subsequently secured a job within the Civil Service.
Answered by Rory Stewart
In light of the Government’s manifesto commitment to achieve three million new apprenticeship starts in England by the end of the Parliament, the Cabinet Office will be centrally collecting data on apprenticeships to allow the Civil Service to report on its contribution towards the national target. In line with these commitments DFID’s targets are set as:
Year | 2016/17 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 |
DFID’s target | 20 | 21 | 21 | 22 |
With current in year planning DFID will exceed the target set for 2016/17.
Type of Apprenticeship/ Location | Fast Track | Operational Delivery | Total |
East Kilbride | 8 | 3 | 11 |
London | 8 | 6 | 14 |
Totals | 16 | 9 | 25 |
DFID’s commitment to central Government apprenticeships started during 2015/16, details as below. These apprenticeships will not finish until at least July 2017 and it is too early to know how many will secure a job within the Civil Service.
Type of Apprenticeship/ location | Fast Track | Operational Delivery | Totals |
East Kilbride | 3 | 6 | 9 |
DFID did sponsor two internal apprenticeships in 2012; both were successful in retaining employment with DFID.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to encourage other donors to fund Education For All: the fund for education in emergencies at its launch at the World Humanitarian Summit.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The UK has played a leading role in the development of the Education Cannot Wait fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises, which was launched at the World Humanitarian Summit on 23rd May. The UK has committed to provide £30 million in support over two years to the new fund as a founding donor, which was announced by the International Development Secretary at the fund’s launch. The UK is working closely with UNICEF and other partners to encourage a broad funding base to Education Cannot Wait, including funding from non-traditional donors, private sector and philanthropic organisations. An example is UK technical support to the fund’s case for investment and other key communication and outreach products, to raise awareness of the fund with others.