Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 6 November 2024 to Question 12938 on Research Finance, what proportion of the £500m allocated to his Department for spend on research and development in 2024-25 was classified as official development assistance.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds
We are still in the financial year 2024-25 so the FCDO will not have final full year numbers until April 2025. However, at the start of the year, £500 million of ODA was allocated to research & development in FCDO.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 November 2024 to Question 11881 on Research Finance, what proportion of the £335m allocated to his Department for spend on research and development in 2025-26 will be classified as official development assistance.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds
Following the spending review phase one settlement letters from HM Treasury (to which PQ 11881 refers), the FCDO is running an internal process to be agreed with Ministers, to decide on internal allocations for 2025-26. This will include allocations of Official Development Assistance.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, pursuant to the Answer of 8 May 2024 to Question 24458 on Gaza: Aid Workers, whether it is his policy that there should be an independent inquiry into the killing of the British aid workers by the Israeli Defence Forces.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
As set out in the answer to Question 24458, we are carefully reviewing the initial findings of Israel's investigations into the killing of World Central Kitchen aid workers and welcome the suspension of two officers as a first step. Their inquiry so far has highlighted failures in deconfliction processes and the unacceptable conduct of the IDF personnel involved. This must never happen again.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, how many full-time equivalent staff from his Department work on programmes relating to the Horn of Africa.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
The FCDO employs 480-499 full-time equivalent staff in UK missions overseas and in Africa Directorate at headquarters covering the Horn of Africa (Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan). Further support on the Horn of Africa is provided by other teams across the rest of the organisation. The UK delivers a wide range of programmes across the region, benefiting millions of people.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, pursuant to the Answer of 25 April 2024 to Question 22306 on Gaza: Aid Workers, whether the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs maintains his comment of 5 April 2024 that findings of Israel’s review into the killing of aid workers must be published in full and followed up with a wholly independent review to ensure the utmost transparency and accountability.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
As the Foreign Secretary has said, we are carefully reviewing the initial findings of Israel's investigations into the killing of World Central Kitchen aid workers and welcome the suspension of two officers as a first step. Their inquiry so far has highlighted failures in deconfliction processes and the unacceptable conduct of the IDF personnel involved. This must never happen again.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, with reference to page 14 of the UK Science and Technology Framework, updated on 9 February 2024, whether his Department plans to recruit additional Tech Envoys.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
It is a priority action of the UK's International Technology Strategy to create the world's most extensive and capable technology diplomacy network, increasing the number of Technology Envoys, increasing our tech expertise across our global network, and uplifting the capability of our diplomats through training, secondments and recruitment. We are in the process of recruiting a North America Technology Envoy.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, with reference to page 14 of the UK Science and Technology Framework, updated on 9 February 2024, whether his Department has developed (a) an outline and (b) a full business case for a UK Technology Centre of Expertise to support developing countries to transform their economies.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
As part of the International Technology Strategy, the Technology Centre of Expertise will provide support to lower and middle income countries to navigate the complex set of challenges presented by technological advancement. The business case has been developed and the inception phase is underway. Four pilot projects have been selected in Africa and Asia. The FCDO is in the final stages of procurement for an implementing partner for the initial phase which will include design of the programme, review of the pilot projects and mapping of the UK technology expertise ecosystem before the full programme launches in 2025.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, with reference to page 14 of the UK Science and Technology Framework, updated on 9 February 2024, what progress his Department has made on developing a UK Technology Centre of Expertise to support developing countries to transform their economies.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani
As part of the International Technology Strategy, the Technology Centre of Expertise will provide support to lower and middle income countries to navigate the complex set of challenges presented by technological advancement. The business case has been developed and the inception phase is underway. Four pilot projects have been selected in Africa and Asia. The FCDO is in the final stages of procurement for an implementing partner for the initial phase which will include design of the programme, review of the pilot projects and mapping of the UK technology expertise ecosystem before the full programme launches in 2025.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, when he plans to respond to Question 22306 tabled by the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central on 17 April 2024 for answer on 22 April.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
I responded to Question 22306 on 25/04/2024.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, with reference to the oral statement of 17 April 2024 on the Humanitarian situation in Gaza by the Parliamentary Under- Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how his Department called for a wholly independent review of the killing of the World Central Kitchen aid workers; and what (a) guarantees of independence and (b) investigatory powers he has sought.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
As the Prime Minister said in his call with Prime Minister Netanyahu on 2 April, the UK was appalled by the killing of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers, including three British nationals, in an Israeli airstrike on 1 April. The Prime Minister called for a thorough and transparent investigation into what happened. Both the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary have stressed the importance of effective deconfliction.