Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of (a) missed or (b) partial child maintenance payments on (i) children and (ii) resident parents.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is estimated to keep around 120,000 children out of poverty each year. CMS acknowledges the significant impact that missed or partial child maintenance payments can have on both children and resident parents.
Changes have been implemented to systems to identify at-risk cases allowing caseworkers to intervene at the earliest opportunity where a partial payment is made and before payments stop.
The CMS has taken steps to strengthen enforcement against non-resident parents who repeatedly fail to meet their child maintenance obligations. These powers allow the CMS to instruct an employer to deduct maintenance directly from the paying parent's wages, take money directly from a paying parent’s bank or building society account. If the paying parent is on certain benefits, deductions can be made at source.
CMS can also apply to the courts for a Liability Order which legally means the debt is legally recognised, allowing CMS to take further enforcement actions such as:
As part of a broader strategy, to ensure consistent financial support for children, the government is reforming the system to eliminate Direct Pay and expand the Collect and Pay service to improve compliance and reduce financial hardship for resident parents and children.
Asked by: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat - North Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to strengthen enforcement against non-resident parents who repeatedly fail to meet their child maintenance payment obligations.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is estimated to keep around 120,000 children out of poverty each year. CMS acknowledges the significant impact that missed or partial child maintenance payments can have on both children and resident parents.
Changes have been implemented to systems to identify at-risk cases allowing caseworkers to intervene at the earliest opportunity where a partial payment is made and before payments stop.
The CMS has taken steps to strengthen enforcement against non-resident parents who repeatedly fail to meet their child maintenance obligations. These powers allow the CMS to instruct an employer to deduct maintenance directly from the paying parent's wages, take money directly from a paying parent’s bank or building society account. If the paying parent is on certain benefits, deductions can be made at source.
CMS can also apply to the courts for a Liability Order which legally means the debt is legally recognised, allowing CMS to take further enforcement actions such as:
As part of a broader strategy, to ensure consistent financial support for children, the government is reforming the system to eliminate Direct Pay and expand the Collect and Pay service to improve compliance and reduce financial hardship for resident parents and children.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much and what proportion of the overseas aid budget is delivered in the form of direct (a) cash and (b) bank payments to individuals.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has supported cash transfers within its humanitarian and social protection systems work for a number of years because they are a well-evidenced mechanism for reducing extreme hunger and poverty at scale, building resilience to prevent crises, and meeting the lifesaving humanitarian needs of highly vulnerable people, e.g. during droughts and conflict.
In 2023, £881 million of bilateral UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) was spent on humanitarian aid, a proportion of which was cash payments. In the same year, £129 million (1.3 per cent of bilateral UK ODA) was spent on social protection, including but not only cash transfers.
Cash transfers are increasingly being delivered through electronic payment systems, reducing the administrative cost and making them more secure. The delivery modality varies by context - the FCDO does not collect aggregated data on these modalities for direct cash payments.
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 implications for his policies of the policy paper entitled International development in a contested world: ending extreme poverty and tackling climate change, a white paper on international development, published in 20 November 2023.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The White Paper entitled International Development in a Contested World published by the previous government provided a diagnosis of global challenges, and examples of how the UK can respond to these. The Foreign Secretary's Development Review went further, considering areas of focus for the UK's development effort in a constrained resource environment, based on the UK's specific strengths and the strengths of our partners, and building on the wide-ranging development consultations conducted in 2023.
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 plans his Department has to collaborate with (a) Médecins Sans Frontières and (b) other organisations to enhance healthcare access and resources for noma-affected regions.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is committed to combating Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) and working with global partners towards achieving the global goal target to end the epidemic of NTDs by 2030, including for Noma. The UK is a signatory to the Kigali Declaration on NTDs and supports the World Health Organization (WHO's) roadmap for Neglected Tropical Diseases 2021-2030.
The UK supports the WHO's work, including on NTDs. Other wider work that will also support reducing the prevalence and impact of Noma includes the department's support to strengthening country health systems, including in Noma prevalent countries such as Nigeria, and work to address factors associated with Noma such as malnutrition, other infectious diseases, and extreme poverty.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Norwich (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the World Economic Forum’s top two global risks over the next ten years, namely extreme weather events, exacerbated by climate change, and biodiversity loss.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We recognise the importance of these global risks highlighted by the World Economic Forum. No society can thrive without protecting the environment on which we rely. That is why this Government is committed to ambitious action on climate and biodiversity. The UK is providing global leadership to end poverty on a liveable planet.
Climate change and biodiversity loss are key elements of the Government’s National Risk Register.
Internationally, we work closely with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, who provide the best available science to assess these risks. We are building global environmental ambition by accelerating delivery of the Global Biodiversity Framework and the Paris Agreement, including through our domestic actions.
Domestically, our independent Climate Change Committee is working on the 4th Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA). We are building global environmental ambition – accelerating delivery of the Global Biodiversity Framework and the Paris Agreement, including through our domestic actions. Defra is responsible for coordinating requirements set out in the UK Climate Change Act 2008, including preparing a National Adaptation Programme every five years, informed by the CCRA. The State of Natural Capital report shows how to mitigate risks from biodiversity loss. We have also launched a rapid review environmental improvement plan to deliver on our legally binding environment targets.
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 raise international awareness of (a) noma and (b) the impact of noma on children in low-income countries.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds
I spoke at a reception in Parliament on the 28th January to mark World Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) day. The meeting included a speech by Noma survivor and advocate Mulikat Okanlawon and I separately met with her to hear about her experiences.
The UK is committed to combating NTDs and towards working with global partners towards achieving the global goal target to end the epidemic of NTDs by 2030, including for Noma. The UK is a signatory to the Kigali Declaration on NTDs and supports the World Health Organization (WHO's) roadmap for Neglected Tropical Diseases 2021-2030.
The UK is a leading provider of flexible funding to WHO, which can support the full range of WHO priorities, such as NTDs. Other wider work that will also support reducing the prevalence and impact of Noma includes the department's support to strengthening country health systems, including in Noma prevalent countries such as Nigeria, and work to address factors associated with Noma such as malnutrition, other infectious diseases, and extreme poverty.
The department has not made any assessment, separate to those made by the WHO, of the prevalence and mortality rates of Noma.
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 global health initiatives for the (a) prevention, (b) early detection and (c) treatment of noma.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds
I spoke at a reception in Parliament on the 28th January to mark World Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) day. The meeting included a speech by Noma survivor and advocate Mulikat Okanlawon and I separately met with her to hear about her experiences.
The UK is committed to combating NTDs and towards working with global partners towards achieving the global goal target to end the epidemic of NTDs by 2030, including for Noma. The UK is a signatory to the Kigali Declaration on NTDs and supports the World Health Organization (WHO's) roadmap for Neglected Tropical Diseases 2021-2030.
The UK is a leading provider of flexible funding to WHO, which can support the full range of WHO priorities, such as NTDs. Other wider work that will also support reducing the prevalence and impact of Noma includes the department's support to strengthening country health systems, including in Noma prevalent countries such as Nigeria, and work to address factors associated with Noma such as malnutrition, other infectious diseases, and extreme poverty.
The department has not made any assessment, separate to those made by the WHO, of the prevalence and mortality rates of Noma.
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 trends in the level of (a) prevalence and (b) mortality rates of noma (i) worldwide and (ii) in the UK.
Answered by Anneliese Dodds
I spoke at a reception in Parliament on the 28th January to mark World Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) day. The meeting included a speech by Noma survivor and advocate Mulikat Okanlawon and I separately met with her to hear about her experiences.
The UK is committed to combating NTDs and towards working with global partners towards achieving the global goal target to end the epidemic of NTDs by 2030, including for Noma. The UK is a signatory to the Kigali Declaration on NTDs and supports the World Health Organization (WHO's) roadmap for Neglected Tropical Diseases 2021-2030.
The UK is a leading provider of flexible funding to WHO, which can support the full range of WHO priorities, such as NTDs. Other wider work that will also support reducing the prevalence and impact of Noma includes the department's support to strengthening country health systems, including in Noma prevalent countries such as Nigeria, and work to address factors associated with Noma such as malnutrition, other infectious diseases, and extreme poverty.
The department has not made any assessment, separate to those made by the WHO, of the prevalence and mortality rates of Noma.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their assessment of reports that more than 2 million people are now at risk of starvation in Tigray and what action are they taking to support the affected communities.
Answered by Lord Collins of Highbury - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We remain concerned about high levels of humanitarian need across many parts of Ethiopia, including in the north. Climate shocks, conflict, disease outbreaks and high inflation are driving humanitarian need in Ethiopia, including in Tigray. The humanitarian community is targeting 3.8 million people in Tigray with food assistance over the July-September lean season to stave off hunger. A UK co-led pledging conference in April helped increase humanitarian funding by securing $610 million from international development partners. This includes £100 million from the UK, which will provide lifesaving support for hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians, including over 435,000 children and mothers suffering from malnutrition, and more than 230,000 needing access to emergency healthcare. This includes UK support to the government of Ethiopia's Productive Safety Net Programme which is strengthening food security and resilience for 8 million people living in extreme poverty across Ethiopia.