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
Palace of Westminster: Repairs and Maintenance
Friday 11th September 2020

Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Parliamentary Works Sponsor Body what plans they have to conduct an independent review (1) of the costs and benefits of the restoration and renewal scheme for the Palace of Westminster, and (2) of the attendant costs and benefits of decanting MPs and Members of the House of Lords to other sites.

Answered by Baroness Scott of Needham Market

The Restoration and Renewal Programme is considering the costs and benefits of a range of possible interventions for restoring the Palace of Westminster as part of the preparation of the outline business case for the works, which both Houses will be invited to endorse, as required by section 7 of the Parliamentary Buildings (Restoration and Renewal) Act 2019.

On 19 May the Sponsor Body announced it would conduct a strategic review of the Programme. On 1 July I wrote to all Members of the House inviting them to make submissions to that review by 7 August, which was also notified by way of a written statement (HLWS321). Members of the House of Commons were invited to do the same by the Sponsor Body spokesperson in that House.

The costs and benefits of decanting both Houses to alternative sites was previously assessed in support of the deliberations of the Joint Committee on the Palace of Westminster. These sites have also been considered as part of the strategic review, alongside additional alternative sites, and the outcome of that work will form part of the review’s findings.

The review will conclude in the autumn and its findings will be considered by the Sponsor Body Board and the Commissions of both Houses in the first instance.


Written Question
Overseas Aid
Tuesday 1st September 2020

Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much of the £50 million in funding from her Department matched with funding from Unilever, has been disbursed to date.

Answered by Wendy Morton

As at July 2020, the Department for International Development has disbursed £15,958,394 through the Hygiene, Handwashing & Behaviour Change Coalition for COVID-19 Response.

This relates to 14 contracts and Memoranda of Understandings with implementing partners, with a total value of £34,806,976.

Additional contracts are currently being negotiated.


Written Question
Coronavirus: Disease Control
Tuesday 1st September 2020

Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many (a) people have been advised on the importance of hygiene and (b) products have been distributed through the Hygiene, Handwashing and Behaviour Change covid-19 response programme.

Answered by Wendy Morton

The Hygiene, Handwashing and Behaviour Change Coalition for COVID-19 response programme aims to reach up to 1 billion people with hygiene messaging to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Implementation is underway with 21 partners working across 37 countries. While totals have still to be verified, for Phase 1 partners alone, we are on track to reach over 300 million of the most vulnerable across countries including the DRC, Bangladesh, Yemen and Ethiopia, including in refugee settings.

Over 20 million hygiene products have already been delivered to frontline NGOs, with 60 million more being prepared for distribution by Unilever.


Written Question
Developing Countries: Nutrition
Tuesday 1st September 2020

Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, when the Government plans to make its pledge of funding for Nutrition for Growth post-2020.

Answered by Wendy Morton

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to PQ 74465 on 22/07/2020.


Written Question
CDC: Wonderchef
Tuesday 1st September 2020

Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much funding the CDC Group has invested in Wonderchef to date.

Answered by James Duddridge

CDC's investment into Wonderchef is supporting economic activity for thousands of women who participate in its direct-to-home sales network. Since CDC's investment was made in 2018, the company has also created around 350 direct jobs, with the number of female employees more than doubling in that time. In addition, the company has increased local sourcing of its products helping deliver impact through its supply chain.

This investment was made through a private equity fund managed by Amicus Capital Partners. CDC's partnership model with Fund managers helps it achieve impact at scale by supporting hundreds of SMEs across South Asia and Africa. In addition to backing local teams of investors, and equipping them with strong Environmental, Social and Governance practices, the model helps support the development of self-sustaining local finance markets.

CDC publishes the amounts it invests directly into businesses and investment funds on its website www.cdcgroup.com. Individual investment amounts made by its partners are not disclosed as this information is commercially sensitive.


Written Question
CDC: Investment
Tuesday 1st September 2020

Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the compatibility of CDC Group investments in luxury brands and hotel chains with its mission statement to make a lasting difference to people’s lives in some of the world’s poorest places.

Answered by James Duddridge

All of CDC's investments undergo a comprehensive and systematic assessment of their expected development impact using internationally recognised best practice methods. A team of over 60 development specialists work to ensure that each investment brings about a positive economic, social and environmental change in support of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.

CDC invests to support the growth of companies that create employment and help transform economies, through the goods and services they produce and sell and the local taxes they generate. In 2019, CDC invested in businesses in Africa and South Asia that employed 875,790; generated 57 terawatt hours of electricity; and its agricultural investments sourced from 1.84 million farmers.

Africa needs increased economic infrastructure to unlock its full economic potential and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. CDC's primary aim when investing into the hotel sector is to create more and better jobs in countries that desperately need them. In addition, these investments support both local and national economic growth. For example, by purchasing goods and services from local suppliers, and by improving economic infrastructure.

Information about CDC's approach to assessing and monitoring the development impact of its investments is available on its website.


Written Question
Ethiopia: Food Supply
Tuesday 1st September 2020

Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of the food security situation in Ethiopia; and if she will make a statement.

Answered by James Duddridge

The worsening food security situation in Ethiopia is a significant concern. Ethiopia faces the triple threat of drought and floods, the worst desert locust outbreak in generations, and Covid-19. The UN and GoE estimate that 15 million people will be in need of humanitarian food assistance in the coming months and over 4 million children and mothers will face acute malnutrition as the full impacts of the triple-threat crisis materialise. The UK is a committed partner to the Government of Ethiopia and is supporting food and nutrition responses for the most vulnerable people. The UK recently announced £17 million for the East Africa desert locust response, bringing our total contribution up to £25 million.


Written Question
East Africa: World Food Programme
Tuesday 1st September 2020

Asked by: Laurence Robertson (Conservative - Tewkesbury)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will allocate additional funding to the World Food Programme to enable it to increase assistance to East African countries; and if she will make a statement.

Answered by James Duddridge

We are deeply concerned about the food security situation in East Africa, where nearly 25 million people are at crisis levels of food insecurity. Existing humanitarian need will be exacerbated by climate change, the desert locust outbreak and the impact of Covid-19.

The UK is working across East Africa to provide life-saving assistance, cash transfers where markets are still functioning, and tools and seeds to build a longer-term ability to respond to shocks. We are working through both our country programming and multilateral responses, which includes through the World Food Programme (WFP). In 2019, DFID has provided almost USD 700million to support WFP's operations. In 2020, our contribution so far is USD 254million (this includes a USD 19million contribution to WFP's global services in response to Covid-19).


Written Question
Coronavirus: Research
Tuesday 1st September 2020

Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what her priorities are for the GAVI board meeting to discuss the COVAX facility.

Answered by Wendy Morton

As GAVI's largest donor, the UK is proud of the impressive results GAVI has achieved in vaccinating over 760 million children, and saving 13 million lives since 2000.

As the world grapples with the burden of the COVID-19 pandemic, the UK has been clear that the equitable global distribution of a vaccine will be the best defence against it, enable collective recovery, and reduce the risk of repeat outbreaks. We therefore strongly support Gavi using its expertise and experience to lead on accelerating global access to COVID-19 vaccines via the COVAX Facility.

The UK was represented by two senior DFID officials at the GAVI Board, where the priority is to ensure that the COVAX Advance Market Commitment delivers timely and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines in the poorest countries.

The UK's overarching priority for its £1.65 billion contribution to Gavi from 2021-25 is to maintain and improve routine immunisation against vaccine preventable diseases in the poorest countries.


Written Question
Europe: Undocumented Migrants
Tuesday 1st September 2020

Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support her Department is providing to the (a) Maltese and (b) Italian authorities to help deter and prevent boats carrying illegal migrants from reaching Europe.

Answered by James Cleverly - Home Secretary

The UK and Italy have a regular dialogue on migration and last met in February 2020. The UK and Malta signed a bilateral MoU on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking in December 2018, and a UK-Malta Migration dialogue took place on 27 July led by the UK's Migration and Modern Slavery Envoy.

The UK Government has a comprehensive whole-of-route approach to global migration, working in countries of origin and transit to address the drivers of migration, reduce the need of migrants to leave their home country or to enable migrants to stay in a safe third country where possible. This whole of route approach is the only way to achieve long-term and sustainable reductions in irregular migration.