Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, which development programmes will continue to be funded following the planned reduction of the official development assistance budget.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Official Development Assistance (ODA) allocations and the impact on programmes are being worked through. We are taking a rigorous approach to ensure all ODA delivers value for money.
We will publish final 2025/26 ODA programme allocations in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Annual Report & Accounts this summer.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the (a) internal checks and (b) admission procedures of sponsor institutions currently subject to action plans in relation to international students from countries with higher rates of subsequent asylum claims.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Immigration White Paper, published 12 May, set out a wide range of reforms, including to student visas, further details of which will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department’s white paper Restoring Control over the Immigration System, published in May 2025, when her Department will publish the Red-Amber-Green basic compliance assessment ratings for student sponsor institutions.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Immigration White Paper, published 12 May, set out a wide range of reforms, including to student visas, further details of which will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will restrict the number of new international students sponsoring institutions currently subject to action plans can recruit.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Immigration White Paper, published 12 May, set out a wide range of reforms, including to student visas, further details of which will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of action plans in preventing compliance breaches by licensed sponsors of student visas.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Immigration White Paper, published 12 May, set out a wide range of reforms, including to student visas, further details of which will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps he is taking to help secure the release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Since day one, this Government has been clear that we need to see an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages cruelly detained by Hamas, better protection of civilians, significantly more aid consistently entering Gaza, and a path to long-term peace and stability. The remaining hostages must be released and the way to return them safely is through a deal. All parties must re-engage with negotiations to get hostages out. The Foreign Secretary has visited Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories three times since taking office and has pressed for a resolution, to secure a ceasefire and see the return of hostages.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps he is taking to help prevent Russia from continuing its invasion of Ukraine.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Putin's illegal invasion of Ukraine is a gross breach of international law and the UN Charter and directly threatens Euro-Atlantic security. The UK remains fully committed to working with our international partners to secure a just and lasting peace in Ukraine and stop future Russian aggression. We have been clear that Putin must stop his barbaric attacks on innocent civilians and agree an unconditional ceasefire. Our focus is putting Ukraine in the strongest possible position for negotiations.
To that end, we have worked with our G7 partners to implement the Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration Loans to Ukraine scheme. The UK is contributing £2.26 billion earmarked for military spending, and the first two of three payments were made in March and April, enabling Ukraine to procure the equipment it needs to stay in the fight.
We are also working with partners to increase the economic pressure on Putin, to hinder Russia's ability to wage war and bring Putin to the table to agree an enduring ceasefire and to engage in meaningful peace talks. In May, we announced our largest ever sanctions package targeting Russia's shadow fleet and a further package of over 100 targets from Russia's financial and energy sectors, and its military industrial complex, amongst others. Sanctions have deprived Russia of at least $450 billion since February 2022 restricting Putin's war machine and degrading his military.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps he is taking with his international counterparts to procure additional aid for Ukraine.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has committed £18 billion in support of Ukraine and we have been clear that we will support Ukraine for as long as it takes. We continue to work with our international partners to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position. This includes engaging with partners to galvanise support in preparation for the 2025 Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome in July and beyond.
We are coordinating urgent military support for Ukraine with partners through the Ukraine Defence Contact Group. At the most recent meeting on 4 June, the Defence Secretary announced we are investing a record £350 million to increase the supply of drones to 100,000 in 2025, as well as spending a further £247 million on training the Armed Forces of Ukraine this year. Two thirds of our £2.26 billion contribution to the G7 Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration Loans for Ukraine scheme has also been transferred to Ukraine so they can procure vital military equipment. This is all part of the £4.5 billion in military support that we are providing to Ukraine this year. This complements the support provided by the international Capability Coalitions, and we remain committed to co-leading the Maritime Capability Coalition with Norway and the Drone Capability Coalition with Latvia.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to support the use of blockchain technologies in (a) trade, (b) commerce, (c) logistics and (d) supply chains.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department for Business and Trade supports the adoption and deployment of technologies to increase productivity in these areas. The upcoming Industrial Strategy will set out our vision and the ambitious set of actions we will take, in partnership with business and academia, to support the tech sector and power the economy of the future. The Industrial Strategy, alongside the upcoming Trade Strategy, will also set out further detail on the steps we are taking to enhance supply chain resilience.
As well, the Department for Transport will publish a new freight plan later this year. While currently under development, we anticipate this will consider the role of technology in enabling the sector to boost economic growth.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to send the allocation towards the operation of free breakfast clubs to primary schools.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is committed to offering a free and universal breakfast club in every state-funded school with primary-aged pupils in England. Breakfast clubs support children’s attendance and attainment, enabling them to thrive academically and socially, and supporting working families.
From this summer term, we are funding 750 early adopter schools to test and learn our new free breakfast clubs, ahead of national rollout. Early adopter schools have already received their first payments and will continue to receive termly fixed payments, plus attendance-based payments based on the number of children who attend, over the course of the scheme.
Funding for breakfast clubs beyond the current financial year will be confirmed through the next phase of the spending review. Payment schedules and allocations for the next academic year will be confirmed in due course.