Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how much his Department (a) paid in apprenticeship levy fees and (b) spent from its apprenticeship levy funds between September 2021 and August 2023.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The department has contributed £3,557,814.53 in Levy funds between September 2021 and August 2023. This includes the 10 per cent government top up.
During the same period, the department's spend from its apprenticeship Levy funds was £854,341.64.
These are the combined levy figures for the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and our Trading Fund, FCDO Services.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had recent discussions with his Israeli counterpart on the cost of (a) domestic settler violence to Palestinian property and (b) trends in the level of insurance coverage for Palestinians in the West Bank.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
We have urged Israel to take stronger action to stop settler violence and hold the perpetrators accountable; extremist settlers, by targeting and killing Palestinian civilians, are undermining security and stability. Both the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary have emphasised to Prime Minister Netanyahu that it is critical that Israel acts to reduce tensions in the West Bank.
As the Foreign Secretary said on 14 December, we are preventing those responsible for settler violence from entering the UK.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent discussions he has had with his Israeli counterpart on the number of (a) aid workers and (b) journalists who have been killed in Gaza since 7 October 2023.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The safety of humanitarian personnel and healthcare workers in Gaza is critical to enable aid to reach those who need it most. We also recognise the valuable role of journalists operating on the ground in Gaza, providing important coverage of the conflict in incredibly challenging circumstances. We continue to call for International Humanitarian Law (IHL) to be respected; under IHL, journalists covering conflicts and humanitarian aid workers should be afforded protection. As the Foreign Secretary has said, there must be a reduction in civilian casualties and Israel must take greater care to limit its operations to military targets. The Prime Minister has made this clear to Prime Minister Netanyahu repeatedly and has been in close contact throughout.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the of the potential impact of trends in the level of settler violence in the West Bank on the local population.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The Government is concerned at the high numbers of Palestinians killed in the West Bank, and we continue to be clear that extremist settlers, by targeting and killing Palestinian civilians, are undermining security and stability. We have urged Israel to take stronger action to stop settler violence and hold the perpetrators accountable. It is critical that Israel acts to reduce tensions in the West Bank.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how much and what proportion of UK Official Development Assistance spending has been on (a) 16-19 education, (b) adult education and (c) education in total in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Education is an important international development priority. From 2013 to 2022, the UK is estimated to have spent £6.9 billion of bilateral education Official Development Assistance (ODA). Of this, £1 billion was spent on secondary education and £1 billion on post-secondary education including scholarships. The UK is estimated to have spent £2.3 billion in multilateral education ODA from 2012 to 2021. Of this, £451 million was spent on secondary education and £381 million was spent on post-secondary education. Annual breakdowns of UK ODA spend on education, including as a proportion of total spend, are available here: [https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-on-international-development]
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how much of the funding pledged by the UK at COP26 for the Just Energy Transition in South Africa has been allocated; and what information his Department holds on how much of the total funding pledged at COP26 for the Just Energy Transition in South Africa has been allocated as of 28 November 2023.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The Just Energy Partnership (JETP) is a decades long endeavour which has made good progress since its inception in 2021. The original members of the International Partners Group (IPG) have increased their grant offer by 57 per cent since COP26 (from $329 million to $517 million). With the addition of the Netherlands and Denmark to the IPG, grant financing has increased by 116 per cent to $713 million. Approximately 50 per cent of the pledged grant funding has been committed, and 35 per cent is in the planning stages. Total financing from the IPG has expanded to $9.3 billion. $1.3 billion of IPG loans have been signed - with Euro 600 million disbursed.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how much and what proportion of UK Official Development Assistance spending has been on green skills in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Recently we have supported green skills development in Mexico, Kenya, South Africa and Indonesia through the Skills for Prosperity programme and released a position paper laying out our position on girls' education and skills development and the role they play in addressing the climate crisis. Green skills is not currently tracked as a specific marker in UK ODA spending.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to support the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government are working with international partners, including the G7, G20 and through the UN, to advocate for the rights of women and girls and to coordinate an international response. We have repeatedly condemned the Taliban's decisions to restrict the rights of women and girls, including through UN Security Council, Human Rights Council resolutions and public statements.
We continue to support the delivery of education, through bilateral and multilateral contributions. On 27 June, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad, Minister for South Asia hosted a meeting of Afghan women leaders to discuss the impact of the Taliban's restrictions on Afghan women as well as the inclusion of Afghan women in the future political process.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has with (a) international partners and (b) the UN on recent reports of cases of schoolgirls in Afghanistan being poisoned and hospitalised.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
FCDO officials regularly press the Taliban on all human rights issues, including the rights of women and girls. Reports of poisonings of schoolgirls in Afghanistan are very worrying. We are working closely with our mission in Doha, international partners, NGOs and the UN to continue to monitor the reports. Lord (Tariq) Ahmad, Minister for South Asia, has made clear that it is essential that all girls can exercise their human right to education without fear.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
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 the proportion of invoices his Department paid to small and medium-sized enterprises within five days in (a) the 2021-2022 financial year and (b) each of the last 12 months.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Data on the prompt payment statistics for FCDO pertaining to financial year 2021/22 can be found published at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fcdo-prompt-payment-data-2021-to-2022. Publication of data for financial year 22/23 has been delayed by the implementation of a new Finance system in the second half of 2022, but will be published as soon as it is available. The FCDO aims to pay all valid invoices from all UK suppliers, including small to medium-sized enterprises, as quickly as possible, and as the published statistics show our average success rate in paying invoices within 5 days between April 2021 and March 2022 was circa 95 percent. The Procurement Bill, currently passing through Parliament, will create a simpler and more transparent procurement regime that will further open up public procurement to SMEs.