Asked by: Diane Abbott (Labour - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much funding has been transferred from the aid budget to the defence budget.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
In February this year, the Prime Minister announced that NATO qualifying defence spending will increase to 2.5% GDP by 2027-28. It will be fully funded by reducing Official Development Assistance (ODA) from 0.5% to 0.3% GNI by the same year. Further details of cash terms savings from reducing ODA can be found in the Spring Statement 2025 document here:
CP1298 – Spring Statement 2025
Individual departmental budgets will be confirmed at the conclusion of the spending review on 11 June.
Asked by: Diane Abbott (Labour - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much funding has been transferred from the international aid to the defence budget in cash terms.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
In February this year, the Prime Minister announced that NATO qualifying defence spending will increase to 2.5% GDP by 2027-28. It will be fully funded by reducing Official Development Assistance (ODA) from 0.5% to 0.3% GNI by the same year. Further details of cash terms savings from reducing ODA can be found in the Spring Statement 2025 document here:
CP1298 – Spring Statement 2025
Individual departmental budgets will be confirmed at the conclusion of the spending review on 11 June.
Asked by: Diane Abbott (Labour - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the United Nations Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, published on 10 October 2024.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We have considered the report. The Government has been clear since day one that International Humanitarian Law (IHL) must be upheld, and civilians protected. The UK supports Israel’s right to self-defence, but it must do this in accordance with international humanitarian law. The death and destruction in Gaza is intolerable. Too many civilians have been killed and we need to prevent further bloodshed now. What is urgently needed is an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages, the upholding of international law, protection of civilians including a rapid increase in aid getting into Gaza, and a pathway to a two-state solution.
Asked by: Diane Abbott (Labour - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential correlation between poverty levels and the lower standard allowance of Universal Credit for those people under 25.
Answered by Jo Churchill
No such assessment has been made.
Asked by: Diane Abbott (Labour - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in London in receipt of Universal Credit are aged under 25.
Answered by Jo Churchill
The Department regularly publishes Universal Credit statistics. Statistics of the number of people who are on Universal Credit each month, by age and region, are published monthly and are currently available to January 2024 on Stat-Xplore.
Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest user and, if needed, can access guidance on how to extract the information required.
Asked by: Diane Abbott (Labour - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Universal Credit claimants aged under 25 have at least one child.
Answered by Jo Churchill
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Diane Abbott (Labour - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have received an award from the Windrush Compensation Scheme in each quarter since that Scheme was launched.
Answered by Tom Pursglove
An individual could have more than one claim under the Windrush Compensation Scheme Rules, for example as a primary claimant, close family member, or as a representative of an estate. In addition, a claim may receive a preliminary, interim and/or full and final payment.
Data on the total number of people who have received a compensation payment is not published. Transparency Data shows how many claims have received a payment under the scheme.
The latest published data, covering the period up to November 2023, is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/windrush-compensation-scheme-data-november-2023. WCS_03 refers; Value of Windrush Compensation Scheme payments made.
Asked by: Diane Abbott (Labour - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department will accept donations of (a) toys for children at her Department 's short-term holding facilities and (b) funds for the express purpose of procuring toys for children staying at such facilities.
Answered by Robert Jenrick - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
Under contractual arrangements Home Office has Mitie Care & Custod provides, toys and games are for children in Short-Term Holding Facilities (STHF).
All local authorities are under a mandatory duty to comply with the National Transfer Scheme, ensuring all local authorities play a part in caring for unaccompanied children and that responsibility is fairly distributed across the UK.
Local authorities have a statutory duty to protect all children.
Asked by: Diane Abbott (Labour - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what information his Department holds on whether residential buildings were built using RAAC; and how that information was established.
Answered by Lee Rowley
I refer the Rt Hon Member to my answer to Question UIN 197493 on 11 September 2023.
Asked by: Diane Abbott (Labour - Hackney North and Stoke Newington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many children are held in the Manston asylum processing centre as of 1 November 2022.
Answered by Robert Jenrick - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
Home Office does not hold the data in the format requested.