Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department plans to take steps to help tackle the potential impact of aid cuts on (a) South Africa, (b) Kenya, (c) Nigeria and (d) other countries of strategic importance to the UK.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government remains fully committed to the UK playing a globally significant role on development; it is both in our national interest and in the interest of our partners.
The Prime Minister has set out a new strategic vision for government spending on defence and security, and official development assistance. Detailed decisions on how the Official Development Assistance budget will be used will be worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review on the basis of various factors including the likely impact on the UK's international partnerships with developing nations.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he plans to take steps with (a) G7 and (b) European donors to return to previous levels of Official Development Assistance.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government remains committed to returning Official Development Assistance to 0.7 per cent of gross national income when the fiscal circumstances allow. Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals requires collective action, and the UK will continue to work through international partnerships towards that vision. Other donors' decisions on overseas development funding are a matter for their governments.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he plans to take steps to encourage (a) the private sector and (b) other donors to increase funding for global HIV prevention and treatment.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As the co-host with South Africa of the 8th replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the UK is actively engaging with both international counterparts and private sector partners to advocate for maintaining or increasing funding for global health, including HIV prevention and treatment. The Minister for the Indo-Pacific attended an event in parliament on 2 April celebrating the contribution of the private sector where the Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) made a landmark $150 million pledge to the 8th replenishment. The Minister welcomed this significant contribution from a British partner which demonstrates the key role of the private sector in the fight against HIV and AIDS, TB and malaria, and global health more broadly.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he plans to take to support the scale up of the provision of long-acting HIV prevention medicines now entering the market.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK remains committed to sustainable development goal 3.3 in ending HIV as a public health threat by 2030. Long-acting technologies have the potential to be game-changers in the global response to HIV, but only if they reach the countries and communities that need them most. The UK supports key partners to improve access to long-acting technologies, including Unitaid who recently committed £17 million in market-shaping grants with the Wits Institute in South Africa and Fiotec in Brazil to accelerate affordable access to Lenacapavir.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
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 potential implications for his policies of the report by the Lancet entitled Impact of an international HIV funding crisis on HIV infections and mortality in low income and middle income countries, a modelling study, published on 26 March 2025.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK takes note of the current context for international HIV funding. We remain committed to our long-standing support to global health organisations at the core of the response to HIV and AIDS, and we continue to support efforts to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. We are excited to be co-hosting the 8th replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria together with South Africa. In countries where the Global Fund invests, AIDS-related deaths have declined by 73 per cent since 2002.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the levelised cost of energy for communicating the true cost of energy production to consumers.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Levelised Cost of Electricity (LCOE) provides a simple, high-level metric to compare the cost of building and operating different generation technologies. While valuable for comparing the relative cost of technologies to each other, LCOE does not include wider system impacts such as flexibility, integration, or transmission costs which occur within an operational system. To fully capture these factors and assess the true cost to consumers, the Department and the independent National Energy System Operator (NESO) use detailed power sector modelling.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many successful applicants there will be to the Great British Nuclear small modular reactor selection process.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Great British Nuclear is driving forward its SMR competition for UK deployment and, following conclusion of detailed negotiations, has invited the four shortlisted companies to submit final tenders. GBN will evaluate these, with final decisions on technology selection to be taken in the Spring. Further updates will follow in due course.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he plans to build any more gigawatt nuclear plants after Sizewell C.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
This Government is committed to nuclear power, which, as set out in the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan, will play an important role in delivering clean power by 2030, and crucially in the period beyond that, providing clean, stable and reliable power. No decision has yet been taken on whether to pursue a future large-scale project beyond Sizewell C.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will consider transferring responsibility for the misuse of drugs to the Department of Health and Social Care.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Responsibility for drug policy is shared across a number of departments and both the Home Office and the Department for Health and Social Care have important roles to play in setting policy to tackle drug use and to reduce drug-related crime and drug health harms. The Home Office is the lead department for the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and associated drug legislation, working with other departments as appropriate where changes in the law are required.
Illicit drug use affects the whole of society, and this Government is taking a collective response which will help our key missions to deliver safer streets, improve health outcomes and contribute to opportunities and growth through reducing crime and saving lives.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to (a) increase recycling rates and (b) reduce littering of containers not included in the Deposit Return Scheme.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Simpler Recycling reforms will make recycling easier and ensure there is a comprehensive, consistent service across England, so that all households and workplaces can recycle plastic, metal, glass, paper & card and food waste, with garden waste for households upon request. Simpler Recycling is estimated to increase the municipal recycling rate from around 42% to around 56% between 2024 and 2035. This project is one of the three core pillars of the Government’s ambitious Collection and Packaging Reforms, alongside the forthcoming Deposit Return Scheme and the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme for packaging.
Littering is a crime that blights communities and the environment. Local authorities are generally best placed to respond to issues such as littering and this Government is considering what further steps are needed to help local authorities reduce litter and keep their streets clean.