Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department has taken to deliver the (a) commitments made in the Glasgow Declaration for Fair Water Footprints and (b) other commitments on water and climate resilience made at COP26.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK delivery plan for the Fairwater Footprints (FWF) programme will improve the governance of water in supply chains. Already FWF is shaping new investment in collective water action in over 60 UK food and drink retailers in water-scarce regions of Peru, Kenya and Morocco, reforming procurement, regulation and investment policy in Panama, Madagascar, Finland and the Netherlands, and strengthening the voice of vulnerable communities in Malawi. In March 2023 the UK announced £1 million to design the flagship Just Transitions for Water Security programme to support the FWF alongside two other COP26 initiatives: the Water Tracker and the Resilient Water Accelerator.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of increasing (a) Official Development Assistance to Malawi, (b) funding for programmes to build climate change resilience and (c) Official Development Assistance to 0.7 per cent of GDP.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The FCDO's Official Development Assistance (ODA) allocations are set out in my [Andrew Mitchell] Written Ministerial Statement of 30 March. We plan to publish full breakdowns of the allocations, including by country, in the FCDO Annual Report and Accounts 2022 to 2023. Allocations are regularly reviewed to respond to changing global needs to ensure ODA is being used most effectively.
We remain committed to doubling our International Climate Finance to £11.6 billion between 2021/22 and 2025/26 and to balancing our funding between mitigation and adaptation. This will include programmes that seek to build the resilience of those most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
The Government is committed to returning to spending to 0.7 per cent of gross national income (GNI) on ODA as soon as the fiscal situation allows. We will return to spending 0.7 per cent of GNI on ODA when, on a sustainable basis, the government is no longer borrowing for day-to-day spending and when underlying debt is falling.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made a recent estimate of the average processing time of an Academic Technology Approval Scheme certificate.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK takes its responsibility towards countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and advanced conventional military technology seriously. The Academic Technology Approval Scheme is a thorough, necessary and proportionate tool to protect UK research from misappropriation and divergence to military programmes of concern. The majority of applications are processed within published timescales and we continue to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the scheme.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made a recent estimate of the number of students who have been unable to accept (a) places on courses and (b) research positions due to delays in issuing Academic Technology Approval Scheme certificates; and if will he make a statement.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK takes its responsibility towards countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and advanced conventional military technology seriously. The Academic Technology Approval Scheme is a thorough, necessary and proportionate tool to protect UK research from misappropriation and divergence to military programmes of concern. The majority of applications are processed within published timescales and we continue to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the scheme.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government plans to take as penholder for Yemen on the UN Security Council in response to the recent escalation in conflict in that country.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK will continue to use its role as penholder in Yemen to support UN-led efforts towards peace. I hosted UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, in London on 10 January and discussed with him again on 26 January UK support for UN led peace efforts to drive forward the political process in Yemen.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that parties to the conflict in Yemen that are responsible for the killing and maiming of children are held to account.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK is an active member of the UN Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict, which considers the reports of the Secretary-General and produces recommendations for addressing the impacts of conflict on children. Yemen is one of the 14 countries considered by the Working Group. We call on all parties to conflict in Yemen to work towards a comprehensive and inclusive negotiated political solution to end the conflict, as the only sustainable way to end the suffering of children in Yemen.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations she has made to the government of Saudi Arabia on strengthening the (a) monitoring and investigation of civilian casualties and (b) potential violations of international humanitarian law by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK raises regularly the importance of protecting civilians and complying with International Humanitarian Law with members of the Saudi-led Coalition. Most recently, I [Minister Cleverly] discussed the escalating violence in Yemen and the importance of protecting civilians with the Saudi Ambassador to Yemen on 26 January.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent progress has been made by the UN special envoy, Martin Griffiths, on helping to restore the peace process in Yemen.
Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary
The UK supports fully the efforts of UN Special Envoy Hans Grundberg, appointed on 6 August, to drive forward the political process in Yemen. We urge the parties to engage constructively in negotiations to end the conflict and alleviate the dire humanitarian crisis.
A record and summary of the Special Envoy's latest briefing on 14 December to an open session of the UN Security Council can be found at
https://media.un.org/en/asset/k1c/k1cjfioqd5
and https://www.un.org/press/en/2021/sc14735.doc.htm
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will publish his Department's long-term financial plan for Official Development Assistance funding.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The Foreign Secretary laid a WMS on 26 January setting out the conclusion of the cross-government review of Overseas Development Assistance. The total FCDO ODA settlement for 2021 is £8.115 billion, funding beyond 2021/22 will be determined by a future government spending review, expected later this year.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much and what proportion of the 2021 Official Development Assistance budget had been allocated as part of long-term spending commitments before the start of 2021.
Answered by Nigel Adams
The Foreign Secretary has set out seven core priorities for the UK's aid budget in the overarching pursuit of poverty reduction: climate and biodiversity; Covid and global health security; girls' education; science and research; defending open societies and resolving conflict; humanitarian assistance; and promoting trade and economic growth. We are working through our internal business planning process which will allocate the ODA budget across these priorities and geographies. No decisions have yet been made on budget allocations for 2021/22.