Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to relieve the covid-19 humanitarian situation in Nepal.
Answered by Nigel Adams
On Thursday 27th May, the FCDO sent 260 ventilators and 2,000 visors (worth £550,000) in response to a request for medical supplies from the Government of Nepal. Moreover, since the beginning of the pandemic, British Embassy Kathmandu has helped Nepal respond to COVID-19 by reprioritising over £40 million of its aid budget. This support has included the construction of an oxygen plant in a Kathmandu hospital; technical advice to local government on managing the impact of COVID-19; water, sanitation and hygiene facilities to support around 300,000 people; safe spaces for women in isolation centres; cash and voucher assistance for the most vulnerable; and nutrition support for pregnant and lactating women. On 19 May Lord Ahmad discussed with Foreign Minister Gyawali how the UK could continue to support Nepal's fight against the second wave of COVID-19. The UK is also a leading donor to COVAX, having committed £548 million to the scheme. COVAX has allocated 2,000,000 vaccine doses to Nepal, of which 348,000 have already been delivered.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Indian counterpart on the effect of retrospective tax legislation on UK companies seeking to do business with that country.
Answered by Nigel Adams
Supporting UK companies to do business in India is a priority for HMG. The UK is the second fastest growing investor in India over the last ten years and bilateral investments support over half a million jobs in each other's economies. Retrospective tax legislation is an internal matter for the Indian authorities.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
What steps he is taking to ensure (a) parliamentary and (b) independent scrutiny of Official Development Assistance spending.
Answered by James Duddridge
This Government is fully committed to independent and parliamentary scrutiny. In August, the Foreign Secretary announced our commitment to maintaining the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI). He also announced a departmental review to make ICAI even more effective, leveraging what works and producing even more practical recommendations.
Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
What his policy is on maintaining the statutory target to spend 0.7 per cent of Gross National Income on Official Development Assistance.
Answered by Wendy Morton - Shadow Minister (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are committed to spending 0.7% of GNI on aid and development; this is a manifesto commitment and is enshrined in law. Both the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary have been firm that development will be at the heart of the new FCDO, working hand in hand with diplomacy. Development assistance provided by the UK aims to tackle the great challenges of our time, transform lives of the world’s poorest, and make the world a healthier, safer and more prosperous place for everyone. This allows us to shape the world around us for the better and help keep us safe. As an example of what UK ODA has achieved, since 2015 more than 33 million people have been reached by our humanitarian programmes, including at least 13 million women and girls. The FCDO brings together expertise from DFID and the FCO to ensure we place our world-class development programmes at the heart of our foreign policy. Supporting the poorest countries to become self-sufficient is firmly in line with British values and our own national interest.