Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 12 June 2023 to Question 187040 on China: Abortion, whether his Department has put safeguards in place to ensure that UK aid given to (a) International Planned Parenthood Federation and (b) United Nations Family Planning Association is not used to fund abortions in China.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
As the answer to Question 187040 made clear, no UK overseas development assistance funds forced or coercive abortions in China. We have a stringent due diligence process in our programming and partnerships to ensure our sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) interventions are rights-based, voluntary and legal. We expect and have full confidence in our partners, including International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), to align with this approach.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department holds searchable IT archives (a) of Regulatory Impact Analysis estimates for EU-sourced regulation and (b) employing the search term out of scope relating to changes to regulatory burdens that could not be reviewed due to EU origin.
Answered by Leo Docherty
Regulatory impact assessments are the responsibility of the Better Regulation Executive in DBT. I refer the Hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings to the answers given to him by my Hon. Friend for Thirsk and Malton, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, the Minister for Enterprise, Markets and Small Business on 22 May, UIN: 183010 and 183009.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much UK aid has been allocated to Oxfam in each year since 2017.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell
Statistics on International Development (SID) is the official source of data on UK Official Development Assistance (ODA). SID only reports the first delivery partner in the delivery chain (first tier delivery partner), in line with The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reporting directives, therefore the figures below do not capture funding to Oxfam where it is a delivery partner further down the delivery chain. The amount of UK bilateral ODA given to Oxfam as a first-tier delivery partner from 2017-2021 (the latest year for which data has been published) is shown in the table below.
Table 1: Total UK bilateral ODA (£) to Oxfam as first-tier delivery partner (2017-2021)
2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
£10,017,499 | £11,785,871 | £10,826,373 | £999,657 | £681,803 |
Source: Statistics for International Development https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-on-international-development
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
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 whether UK overseas development assistance provided to (a) International Planned Parenthood Federation, (b) United Nations Family Planning Association and (c) other organisations was used to carry out forced and coercive abortions in China.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
No UK overseas development assistance funds forced or coercive abortions in China. The UK proudly defends and promotes universal and comprehensive Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) globally, providing international aid to trusted multilateral organisations such as International and Planned Parenthood Federation and United Nations Family Planning Association to help deliver this important work and help people, especially women and girls, have control of their bodies. We have a stringent due diligence process in our programming and partnerships to ensure our SRHR interventions are rights-based, voluntary and legal. We expect and have full confidence in our partners to align with this approach.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with his Chinese counterpart on forced and coercive abortions in China.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
We are aware of reports of forced abortions and forced sterilisation in Xinjiang, and we regularly raise the situation in Xinjiang with the Chinese authorities at the highest levels. Most recently, the Foreign Secretary did so with the Vice President of China on 5 May 2023.
The UK Government has led international efforts to hold China to account; on 31 October 2022, concerted UK lobbying efforts helped secure the support of a record 50 countries for a joint statement on China's human rights violations in Xinjiang. We will continue to act with international partners to bring about a change in China's actions, and immediately end its appalling human rights violations in Xinjiang.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many people were employed by his Department to work on matters relating to equality, diversity and inclusivity in (a) 2021 and (b) 2022.
Answered by David Rutley
The FCDO has a Staff Networks Partnership Agreement to ensure our policies and operations are informed by employee insights, including on inclusion, diversity and equality, alongside quantitative and qualitative Human Resource (HR) data managed by HR Directorate. In 2021, the FCDO employed three staff members to mainly or exclusively work on equality, diversity and inclusion matters. During 2022, there were a total of four posts in the FCDO.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much his Department spent on staff training related to diversity and inclusion in 2022.
Answered by David Rutley
The FCDO has a Staff Networks Partnership Agreement to ensure our policies and operations are informed by employee insights including equality, diversity and inclusion, alongside quantitative and qualitative HR data managed by HR Directorate. UK Directorates, Overseas Posts and Staff Networks are responsible for organising training programmes according to evidenced training needs, which must be in line with the Civil Service guidance and value. In 2022 the FCDO spent £25,412.96 on centrally organised staff training related to diversity and inclusion.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what documents relating to negotiations at EU level over reducing costs of draft EU legislation where held at the UK Representation to the EU from 2010 until the UK's departure from the EU.
Answered by Leo Docherty
The FCDO does not collate centrally and specifically documentation relating to negotiations at EU level over reducing costs of draft EU legislation. The information requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost. However, His Majesty's Government at the time was a supporter of EU better regulation initiatives, an objective of which was the reduction of unnecessary regulatory costs arising from EU legislation.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many British citizens have been taken hostage by terrorist organisations in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by James Cleverly - Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
The FCDO does not share information on individual hostage cases. The safety of British nationals overseas is a priority for the Government.