Asked by: Anum Qaisar (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what proportion of civil servants who are on temporary contracts in his Department are women.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Information on the department’s workforce size is published routinely each year as part of the Civil Service Annual Workforce Statistics. Information for each of the years in question can be found at the following link.
As of 31st October 2023, 58% of this Department’s Civil Servants who are employed on temporary contracts are women.
Asked by: Anum Qaisar (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many grade (a) 6, (b) 7 and (c) SCS staff employed by his Department are contractually based in (i) Scotland, (ii) London and (iii) the South East.
Answered by Jacob Young - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Civil Service workforce data, including data on location of staff, is published on an annual basis – the latest publication is available here.
Asked by: Anum Qaisar (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding the Government has made available for research into paediatric brain tumours in each of the last five years.
Answered by Will Quince
The Department invests in health research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). NIHR invests in research, clinical expertise, specialist facilities, workforce, and support services across a range of clinical areas. NIHR expenditure on cancer research was over £101 million in 2021/22.
The Government is committed to funding high-quality brain cancer research. In May 2018 the Government announced £40 million for brain tumour research as part of the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission through the NIHR. This includes research into paediatric brain tumours.
The £40 million funding will remain available; if we can spend more on the best quality science, we will do. The level of funding for brain tumour research depends on funding applications received. It is worth noting that all applications to NIHR that have been assessed as “fundable” in open competition have been funded and this will continue.
Asked by: Anum Qaisar (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what percentage of his Department's staff were based overseas in 2022.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This information is published in the FCDO Annual Report and Accounts, the 2022-23 report can be found on gov.uk. I refer the Honourable Member to page 144(140) of the report: [https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1170838/Foreign-Commonwealth-and-Development-Office-annual-report-and-accounts-2022-to-2023.pdf]
Asked by: Anum Qaisar (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a new independent complaints mechanism for British International Investment.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
British International Investment (BII) has an effective complaints mechanism [https://www.bii.co.uk/en/complaints-whistleblowing/] that allows external parties to report alleged breaches of the Policy on Responsible Investing (PRI). If deemed eligible, complaints will be investigated, and where appropriate, BII will enable access to remedy.
The Reporting and Complaints Mechanism is under the direction of the Head of Compliance. Decisions required under the Reporting and Complaints Mechanism Rules are made independently of the departments involved in pre-investment due diligence and post-investment monitoring of environmental, social and business integrity issues. The Head of Compliance has a reporting line to the Board's Audit & Compliance Committee.
FCDO undertakes periodic reviews of BII's assurance processes and recommends actions to improve their robustness, and monitors implementation of these. Any significant issues reported to FCDO regarding BII are notified to FCDO's Internal Audit and Investigations Department.
Asked by: Anum Qaisar (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what humanitarian assistance his Department has provided to Myanmar in each financial year since 2021-22.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Since the coup in February 2021, the UK has provided approximately £120 million to support the people of Myanmar. This has included life-saving assistance responding to the conflict and displacement, support for emergency health care and education and supporting civil society. We also recently announced an additional £2 million to support the Cyclone Mocha response.
Breakdown of ODA figures:
From 01 Feb 2021 to 31 Mar 2022: we provided £8 million
In financial year 2021/22: we provided £49.5 million
In financial year 2022/23: we provided £57.3 million
In financial year 2023/24: our allocated budget is £30.1 million (we have spent £5.13 million so far).
Asked by: Anum Qaisar (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
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 effectiveness of (a) aviation fuel, (b) armaments and (c) financial services sanctions on Myanmar.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We have led international efforts to put pressure on the military regime and reduce its access to revenue, arms and equipment. On 27 March, the UK announced its fifteenth round of sanctions, designating those who profit from the supply of aviation fuel and military equipment to the Myanmar Armed Forces. We will continue to impose a cost on the military regime's actions, working closely with our partners in the US, Canada and the EU to ensure a strong, coordinated and targeted response.
Asked by: Anum Qaisar (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many permanent staff in his Department work on policies relating to Myanmar.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Approximately 120 - 150 permanent members of staff at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, based in the UK and at the British Embassy in Yangon, work on policies relating to, or support our embassy in Myanmar.
Asked by: Anum Qaisar (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
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 impact of investments in private healthcare providers by British International Investment on (a) people living in poverty and (b) women and girls.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
British International Investment's (BII) investments are scrutinised by independent evaluators through the FCDO-BII Evaluation and Learning Programme.
Each sector evaluation includes analysis of the poverty alleviation and gender impact. Recommendations for improving impact and BII responses are published on FCDO's and BII's website. A multi-sector evaluation is currently under way, which includes a review of BII's healthcare portfolio.
In addition, BII commissions and publishes its own case studies, evaluations, and evidence reviews to help better understand the impact of its investments. Relevant case studies and evaluations include the impact of access to finance for healthcare facilities in Kenya [https://www.bii.co.uk/en/news-insight/insight/articles/what-is-the-impact-of-improved-access-to-finance-for-healthcare-facilities-in-kenya/] and investing for impact in India [https://assets.bii.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/06212044/Investing-for-impact-in-India_BII.pdf].
Asked by: Anum Qaisar (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure recipients of intermediated investments by British International Investment are not involved in human rights abuses.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Intermediated investments allow Development Finance Institution's to effectively: provide smaller levels of financing, raise standards in the wider market, support the development of local institutions, and mobilise other capital.
British International Investment's (BII) Policy on Responsible Investing [https://assets.bii.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/22114326/Policy-on-Responsible-Investing.pdf] sets out BII's business integrity and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) expectations. This includes drawing on the standards set out in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Legally binding Business Integrity and ESG action plans are developed to improve standards of all investees over a defined period; and investees are risk assessed on a quarterly basis across various dimensions of risk including ESG and business integrity.
High environmental, social and business integrity risks are reported to FCDO and there is an established process for escalation of significant incidents.