Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions (a) he and (b) officials in his Department have had with counterparts in the EU to support improvements to the (a) road, (b) rail and (c) ports infrastructure in south eastern Ukraine.
Answered by Alan Duncan
FCO Ministers have discussed support for south eastern Ukraine with EU counterparts on a number of occasions. I did so most recently at the EU Foreign Affairs Council on 18 February. My officials have also discussed the provision of such support with the European External Action Service and European Commission in Brussels, and with the EU Delegation in Kyiv. In January, the EU led a scoping visit to south eastern Ukraine, including the city of Mariupol, to assess what further actions might be required, including to improve infrastructure. As part of on-going donor coordination efforts, UK officials frequently discuss with other international donors and the Ukrainian government how best to support Ukraine's infrastructure needs.
Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what financial assistance the Government plans to allocate to Ukraine in each of the next three years.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The UK is a major donor to Ukraine. In 2019/20 the British Government will provide more than £35 million in support for Ukraine, which includes assistance to combat corruption and support reform as well as vital humanitarian support and peacebuilding activities. The allocations are made on an annual funding cycle.
Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his Chilean counterpart on Martin Pickett, a constituent of the Rt hon Member for Sevenoaks, to help him re-establish contact with his children who are living in Chile.
Answered by Alan Duncan
We have advised Mr Pickett that we cannot interfere in the Chilean judicial process and have encouraged him to seek the advice of a local lawyer on what other legal recourse may be open to him to re-establish contact with his children.
Asked by: Michael Fallon (Conservative - Sevenoaks)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to assist conjoined twins born to Palestinian parents at the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza to access specialist treatment in Israel.
Answered by Alistair Burt
While we have no plans to assist with this specific issue, officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv and Consulate General in Jerusalem have raised our concerns recently with the Israeli Government and the Palestinian Authority (PA) respectively over the situation in Gaza. Israeli hospitals do treat Palestinian patients following referrals from the PA. Where referrals have been made, we continue to encourage the Israeli authorities to grant permits to allow greater Gazan access to critical healthcare.