Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, if he will hold discussions with his Israeli counterpart on taking steps (a) following recent and (b) to help prevent future attacks on aid convoys by Israeli settlers in the West Bank.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Attacks by extremists on aid convoys en route to Gaza are appalling. The Foreign Secretary raised his concerns with Israeli Minister Gantz on 16 May.
On 3 May, the Foreign Secretary announced new sanctions on extremist groups and individuals for inciting and perpetrating settler violence in the West Bank
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what recent discussions he has had with his Israeli counterpart on the security of the UNRWA headquarters in East Jerusalem.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The arson attack against UNRWA's headquarters in East Jerusalem was unacceptable. The perpetrators of this attack must be held to account. The UK Head of Mission, together with Heads of Mission in several partner countries, condemned the incident in a joint statement on 10 May.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, how many girls have been supported by UK Official Development Assistance funding to (a) enter and (b) continue education.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Girls' education is a UK international development priority. We champion the right of every girl to access 12 years of quality education. Since 2015, UK Official Development Assistance has supported over 10 million girls to gain a decent education. The FCDO supports girls to access education through a number of mechanisms. Our Girls' Education Challenge programme has enabled over 1.6 million of the most marginalised girls to access education. We have 18 bilateral education programmes globally, and we are one of the leading donors to the global funds for Education - the Global Partnership for Education and Education Cannot Wait (ECW). Between 2017 and 2021, ECW supported over 6.9 million children (48 percent girls) to access education.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of UK Official Development Assistance spending on the resilience of primary and secondary school education in crisis-affected countries.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The FCDO supports resilient education systems through our investments through multilateral partners; bilateral programmes; and education policy influencing. This includes FCDO's position paper, 'Addressing the Climate, Environment, and Biodiversity Crises in and through Girls' Education' (2022), which provides a framework of priority actions to build resilient and climate smart school systems in the face of increasing extreme weather events. The UK recently pledged £80 million to Education Cannot Wait which supports education in crisis-affected countries, including those affected by natural and weather-related disasters. FCDO is also the second largest donor to the Global Partnership for Education, which spends over 60 percent of its funds in fragile and conflict-affected states.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has had recent discussions with his Israeli counterpart on injuries received by (a) children and (b) civilian men of working age in Gaza hit by Israeli drone fire.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The British Government has underlined the need for Israel to ensure effective deconfliction in Gaza. We want to see Israel take greater care to limit its operations to military targets, avoid harming civilians, in particular children, and destroying homes. Too many civilians have been killed.
We are calling for an immediate pause to get aid in and hostages out, then progress towards a sustainable, permanent ceasefire, without a return to destruction, fighting and loss of life.
The Foreign Secretary reiterated these points during his visit to Israel on 17 April, where he met Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Israel Katz.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has had recent discussions with his Israeli counterpart on the potential merits of the resumption of the supply of fresh water in Gaza.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The situation in Gaza is desperate. Too many Palestinian civilians have been killed and there is an urgent need to get more aid to the people of Gaza to prevent a famine. Israel has made some progress in allowing more aid into Gaza, but more needs to be done.
The Foreign Secretary visited Israel on 17 April. During his visit he met with Prime Minister Netanyahu and Foreign Affairs Minister Katz and reiterated the need to maintain focus on getting more aid into Gaza and getting hostages out. He also stressed the need to see an expansion of the types of aid allowed into Gaza and the provision of electricity, water and telecommunications, to both the north and the south of Gaza.
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.