Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 19 May 2025 to Question 51381 on Development Aid: Women, whether his discussions with stakeholders included representatives from (a) women's rights and (b) women-led organisations.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are engaging with partners and stakeholders as we transition the Official Development Assistance budget to 0.3 per cent of Gross National Income. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) ministers and officials continue to meet stakeholders on a wide range of issues, including representatives from women's rights, and women-led organisations, both in the course of their duties and as part of a commitment to harnessing a wide range of perspectives to inform the FCDO's policy and strategy.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what (a) metrics and (b) assessments he uses to determine whether official development assistance programmes constitute value for money.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Value for money is embedded into all our Official Development Assistance (ODA) programming. We use a mix of quantitative data and qualitative information to assess value for money and inform decision-making throughout the programme lifecycle. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office uses experts, technical advisors, programme managers, and procurement professionals with experience of working in low-income environments and knowledge of global research of what works.
The Foreign Secretary led a cross-Departmental ODA review as part of the Spending Review. This ensures that all UK ODA spend, across a range of government departments, is strategically coherent and provides the best value for money for the British taxpayer.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with Commonwealth partners on the potential impact of the situation in Tanzanian on that county's role in the Commonwealth.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK continues to engage with members of the international community, including Commonwealth partners, on specific developments in Tanzania, including the detrimental impact a decline in governance would have on mutual growth and prosperity.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
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 potential impact of the political situation in Tanzania on UK-Tanzania (a) trade, (b) aid, (c) diplomatic engagement and (d) other relations.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK continuously keeps bilateral relations and national interests under review with partner countries throughout the world.
We are following political developments in Tanzania, and when required, the our High Commission raises specific areas of concern with the Government of Tanzania.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support (a) human rights and (b) civil society organisations operating in Tanzania.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has recently launched the Wajibika programme in Tanzania which aims to empower Tanzanian citizens and promote inclusive and effective civic space, political inclusion and address media freedom and access to information.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of recent trends in levels of small boat crossings on (a) the immigration system and (b) local authorities in the West Midlands.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office carefully monitors overall irregular migration and has regular engagement directly with local authorities and via Regional Strategic Migration Partnerships to discuss any specific impacts on local communities and regions.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 12 May 2025 to Question 49361 on Sudan: Development Aid, whether the £120 million of food aid is the only funding allocated to Sudan for the 2025-26 financial year.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office are determining whether more funding for financial year 2025/26, in addition to the £120 million announced at the London Sudan Conference in April, will be allocated and further information will be provided in due course. Unfortunately, the spending review is still under review, and we will endeavour to update once we have the information.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has considered reviewing the national funding formula for police forces.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
To support the delivery of the Safer Streets Mission, broader policing reform is necessary to address the challenges faced by policing and help the system to deliver effective and efficient policing to the public.
The allocation of funding to police forces remains an important consideration.
This Government is committed to ensuring that police forces have the resources they need. As with previous years, decisions on police force funding allocations will be made via the annual police funding settlement.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of introducing a statutory cap on levels of migration.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Immigration White paper, published on 12 May 2025, announced new measures on a wide range of issues to reduce net migration, further details of which will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to establish a national statutory inquiry into grooming gangs.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government is committed to getting to the truth of both historical and current group-based child sexual exploitation or grooming gangs offending, to ensure that perpetrators are punished and to deliver justice and accountability for victims and survivors.
We will set our next steps to tackle this heinous offending when we publish Baroness Casey’s audit in the coming weeks.