To match an exact phrase, use quotation marks around the search term. eg. "Parliamentary Estate". Use "OR" or "AND" as link words to form more complex queries.


Keep yourself up-to-date with the latest developments by exploring our subscription options to receive notifications direct to your inbox

Written Question
UNRWA: Finance
Monday 20th July 2020

Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what her Department's policy is on funding for UNRWA.

Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary

The UK is a long-term supporter of UNRWA as a vital humanitarian and stabilising force in the region. We recognise UNRWA’s unique mandate from the UN General Assembly, to protect and provide protection and core services to Palestinian refugees across the Near East.

The UK provides multi-year funding to UNRWA. Our contribution to UNWRA will help to provide basic education to more than 533,000 children a year (half of which are girls), access to health services for 3.5 million Palestinian refugees and social safety net assistance for around 255,000 of the most vulnerable.


Written Question
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
Wednesday 15th July 2020

Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)

Question to the Department for International Development:

Whether she had discussions with (a) civil society and (b) development partners on the potential merger of her Department with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office before the decision to merge those Departments was made.

Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

As with any government change like this, the announcement came first to Parliament. Baroness Sugg meets British Development Civil Society Organisations regularly. Strong consultation with a wide range of partners will continue to be a key component of our work to create the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.


Written Question
Female Genital Mutilation: Coronavirus
Monday 8th June 2020

Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the accuracy of the estimate by the UN Population Fund that the covid-19 pandemic could result in an additional 2 million girls worldwide being subject to FGM.

Answered by Wendy Morton

Evidence shows that women and girls’ sexual and reproductive rights (SRHR) are under pressure as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic; this includes progress towards ending Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) by 2030.

We are tracking UNFPA’s estimates and other assessments as they emerge, and are in frequent touch with our partners in countries to monitor the constraints and the barriers women, girls and marginalised groups may be facing as a direct or indirect impact of COVID-19.

UKaid is continuing to support efforts to tackle FGM during the pandemic, including through increased remote working and using media platforms. For example, our £15 million programme in Sudan continues to support advocacy and last month we saw a significant step towards the outlawing of FGM in Sudan.


Written Question
Females: Coronavirus
Monday 8th June 2020

Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she plans to take to tackle the rise in (a) gender-based violence, (b) child, early and forced marriages, (c) FGM and (d) other harmful practices faced by adolescent girls globally as a result of the covid-19 pandemic.

Answered by Wendy Morton

I am deeply concerned about the surge in gender-based violence (GBV), FGM and other harmful practices as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are urgently adapting existing programmes to ensure women and girls continue to access support during the lockdown. For example, in Nepal, DFID is financing safe spaces for women in nine shelters and 42 COVID-19 quarantine sites. In Uganda, DFID is supporting the Government's response to the spikes in GBV by funding 13 shelters across the country and working to ensure safety of frontline staff and survivors.

The UK leads the world in our support to the Africa-led movement to end FGM. In 2018 we announced a £50 million UK aid package – the biggest single donor investment worldwide to date – to tackle this issue across the most-affected countries in Africa. In February up to £3.5 million of this was allocated to the WHO and UN for vital work with governments and health systems to tackle the harmful practice.

Significant gains have been made in the last 10 years to reduce child marriage, but COVID-19 is putting this progress at risk. DFID’s flagship global programme to end child marriage supported just under 3 million adolescent girls to attend school and skills training in 2018 alone. The UN Global Programme is developing innovative ways to continue to reach and support vulnerable girls during the COVID-19 crisis, including moving services online.


Written Question
Sub-Saharan Africa: Renewable Energy
Tuesday 18th February 2020

Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what official development assistance his Department is allocating to the production of sustainable energy in sub-Saharan Africa.

Answered by James Duddridge

DFID has a substantial and growing portfolio of programmes supporting sustainable energy in Africa.

This includes providing finance for off-grid energy systems to reach the rural poor in Africa, technical assistance to improve African countries’ renewable energy policies, and investing in clean energy research and innovation such as the Faraday Battery Challenge and the Ayrton Fund.

CDC, the UK’s development finance institution, also invests in sustainable energy companies, for example in the world’s largest pay-as-you-go solar company, Kenya’s M-Kopa Solar, as well as Mettle Solar in South Africa, and PEG in Ghana.

The commitment that the UK will double its spend on international climate finance to £11.6 billion by 2026 will lead to increased UK commitment to the provision of sustainable energy in Sub-Saharan Africa.


Written Question
Department for International Development: Honours
Tuesday 5th November 2019

Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of staff in his Department in receipt of each category of Honour in (a) December 2018 and (b) June 2019 were (i) from ethnic minority backgrounds and (ii) female aged (A) under 30, (B) 31 to 40, (C) 41 to 50 and (D) aged over 50.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to ensuring that the honours system is fully representative of UK society. The proportion of women and people from ethnic minorities receiving recognition on each honours list is available on GOV.UK, as is a breakdown of ethnicities of recipients on the Ethnicity Facts and Figures website at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/honours-recipients-by-ethnicity.

Information on ages is not correlated with other diversity factors. We also publish the proportion of honours by independent committee on GOV.UK. The numbers of honours recipients in the Department for International Development are very small and vary from year to year. Releasing the requested data would identify the individuals and they have given permission for their data to be used for statistical purposes only.


Written Question
Department for International Development: Ethnic Groups
Tuesday 23rd July 2019

Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many BAME staff are employed at (a) grade 7, (b) grade 5 and (c) grade 3 in his Department.

Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

The below table shows the number of BAME staff, at Grade 7, Grade 5 and Grade 3, employed by DFID as at 30 June 2019.

Grade

No. of BAME Employees

Grade 7 (A2)

101

Grade 5 (SCS-G5)

5

Grade 3 (SCS-G3)

Less than 5

Grand Total

108


Written Question
Department for International Development: Brexit
Wednesday 17th October 2018

Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether she plans to publish her Department's preparations for no deal.

Answered by Harriett Baldwin

DFID published guidance on 23 August for UK organisations delivering EU humanitarian aid programmes if there is no Brexit deal so that they can make informed plans and preparations for that unlikely scenario. The guidance set out our offer of financial assurance for UK organisations to allow them to continue bidding for funding from the core budget of European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) without undertaking unmanageable financial and programmatic risk.


Written Question
Department for International Development: Staff
Wednesday 17th October 2018

Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what change there has been in staffing levels in her Department since June 2016.

Answered by Harriett Baldwin

Figures on employment levels in all Civil Service organisations are collected each quarter by ONS as part of its Quarterly Public Sector Employment Survey (QPSES).

Please see below table providing DFID’s staff numbers since June 2016. September figures will be published 2 November.

2016

Numbers

2017

Numbers

2018

Numbers

June

2022

January

2120

January

2495

July

2022

February

2158

February

2513

August

2046

March

2181

March

2526

September

2062

April

2190

April

2545

October

2071

May

2217

May

2551

November

2090

June

2256

June

2569

December

2099

July

2299

July

2605

August

2329

August

2632

September

2351

October

2389

November

2443

December

2459


Written Question
Department for International Development: Brexit
Wednesday 6th December 2017

Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what estimate she has made of the (a) number of officials to be employed by her Department and (b) her Department's payroll in (i) 2018, (ii) 2019, (iii) 2020, (iv) 2021 and (v) 2022 as a result of the UK leaving EU.

Answered by Rory Stewart

EU Exit is an all-of-government operation. The Department for International Development is doing detailed work with departments to prepare for the upcoming negotiations by understanding the risks and opportunities of leaving the EU and coordinating planning.

Staff within the Europe and Trade for Development teams lead on providing advice to Ministers on EU Exit and exit-related issues. Members of staff across the Department also provide advice and analysis on EU Exit issues as required.

Given the interactions between EU exit work and the Department’s other priorities, it would not be possible to give an accurate figure.