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 potential impact of trends in the level of humanitarian aid spending by his Department in East Africa on women and girls in that region.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Women and girls are disproportionately affected by crises. In East Africa there is significant evidence to show the gendered impacts of drought, conflict and other humanitarian pressures.
Across East Africa UK humanitarian programmes support women and girls with access to nutrition services, maternal healthcare, access to education and gender-based violence prevention and support services. This is aligned with our commitments in the International Development Strategy on both women and girls and humanitarian action.
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, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of ensuring all producers of products registered by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency publish (a) net prices, (b) financial and other contributions to their research and development, (c) patent status, (d) licensing agreements and (e) a summary of contractual access conditions.
Answered by Will Quince
The MHRA is an independent regulator responsible for granting marketing authorisation to a product following a thorough review of an application submitted by its producer. There is no requirement for producers of these products registered by the MHRA to declare the information referenced, as this information is both commercially sensitive and not required for the MHRA to make an assessment of an application for marketing authorisation.
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, whether the Government supports provisions in the proposed international agreement on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response on (a) public interest conditions on public research &and development funding, b() price transparency and (c) tech transfer of end products.
Answered by Will Quince
As negotiations on the pandemic instrument are live and in their early stages, we cannot comment on the details of the United Kingdom’s negotiating position. Driving access to safe, affordable essential medical countermeasures is a key priority for the UK in these negotiations, as is ensuring that measures incentivise innovation to strengthen research and development. Officials are working with international partners and non-state actors to ensure the instrument improves access to vaccines, drugs and tests, while also supporting the life sciences sector.
We have also been clear that the UK will not sign up to a pandemic instrument or any instrument that would compromise the UK’s ability to make domestic decisions on national measures concerning public health policy.
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 adequacy of the level of aid provided by his Department to (a) Afghanistan and (b) Pakistan in financial years (i) 2022-23 and (ii) 2023-24.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
Afghanistan is one of FCDO's largest bilateral aid programmes. Since April 2021, the UK has spent £532 million on aid for Afghanistan. We continually monitor the situation in Afghanistan and support the UN led humanitarian response which prioritises according to need. The UK's development partnership with Pakistan focuses on underlying structural issues including population dynamics, climate vulnerability, protecting the rights of women and minorities and macroeconomic stabilisation. Within this partnership the UK has pledged a total of £36 million for flood relief efforts in Pakistan since 2022, of which over £25 million has been disbursed to date.
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 recent steps his Department has taken to support locally-led peace builders in Pakistan.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The FCDO supports a variety of initiatives to build political, cultural and religious understanding between Pakistan and its neighbours. These initiatives support wider regional stability and prosperity, whilst also reducing the risks of uncontrolled escalation towards violence.
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 support Sudanese (a) civil society and (b) communities working to help prevent further conflict in Sudan.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The UK's top humanitarian priority is to secure operational security guarantees and workable humanitarian access. There can be no international aid without safe and reliable access. As part of our engagement as the Quad (KSA, US, UK, UAE) we have pushed both for the extension of the ceasefire and ensuring unimpeded humanitarian access.
The UK will support a well-coordinated and prioritised regional response. We will coordinate with the international humanitarian system (including INGOs, UN agencies, Civil Society Organisations) to support the UN to be able to scale-up delivery within Sudan so they can move quickly to respond if and when the access situation improves.
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 support his Department is providing to Sudanese (a) civil society and (b) communities providing first response relief in Sudan.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The UK's top humanitarian priority is to secure operational security guarantees and workable humanitarian access. There can be no international aid without safe and reliable access. As part of our engagement as the Quad (KSA, US, UK, UAE) we have pushed both for the extension of the ceasefire and ensuring unimpeded humanitarian access.
The UK will support a well-coordinated and prioritised regional response. We will coordinate with the international humanitarian system (including INGOs, UN agencies, Civil Society Organisations) to support the UN to be able to scale-up delivery within Sudan so they can move quickly to respond if and when the access situation improves.
Asked by: Anum Qaisar (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, in the context of the UK’s accession to Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (a) with which organisations and groups the Government has consulted on the digital provisions of that agreement, and (b) whether she has received legal advice on the potential effect of that agreement on (i) existing domestic data protection legislation and (ii) the UK's ability to enact new provisions for domestic data provision.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
In preparation for accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the Government ran one of its largest consultation exercises, consulting with individuals, businesses, business associations, NGOs and public sector bodies, receiving almost 150,000 responses.
CPTPP safeguards the UK’s high standards of personal data protection as set out in the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR, and locks in a requirement for personal data to be protected in all countries that are party to the agreement.
Asked by: Anum Qaisar (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Leader of the House:
To ask the Leader of the House, whether the House will have a debate on a substantive motion on the UK’s accession to CPTPP.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The CPTPP will act as a gateway to the Indo-Pacific, one of the most dynamic and fastest-growing regions on Earth. When we join, the bloc will account for around 15% of global GDP and could boost the UK economy by £1.8 billion in the long run, with wages set to rise by £800 million compared to 2019 levels as a consequence.
Once signed, the agreement will be laid before Parliament for 21 sitting days of formal scrutiny under the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 (CRaG). There will be at least three months between publication of the agreement and the commencement of the scrutiny period under CRaG. Any legislation required to implement the agreement will be scrutinised and passed by Parliament in the usual way. The Government commitment to holding debates during the CRaG process is subject to the request being made in a timely manner and parliamentary time being available.
Asked by: Anum Qaisar (Scottish National Party - Airdrie and Shotts)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent estimate her Department has made of the cost to the public purse of the UK and Rwanda Migration and Economic Development Partnership.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The UK has provided Rwanda with an initial investment of £120m as part of the Migration and Economic Development Partnership. The UK will also be funding the processing costs for each person relocated, such as caseworkers, legal advice, translators, accommodation, food, healthcare, and for those granted protection, a comprehensive integration package to help them put down roots and start a new life.
Costs and payments will depend on the number of individuals relocated, the timing of when this happens, and the outcomes of individual cases. Actual spend will be reported as part of the annual Home Office Reports and Accounts in the usual way.