Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what discussions he has had with his Caribbean Community counterparts on the security situation in Haiti.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK remains concerned by the deteriorating security situation in Haiti that exacerbates pre-existing humanitarian and economic crises. I [Minister Rutley] have engaged significantly on this issue, discussing it with regional and international partners over many months. I most recently engaged with Caribbean partners during my attendance at the CARICOM Heads of Government meeting in Guyana on 26 February, where I discussed concerns about - and options to respond to - the security situation in Haiti with interlocuters. The UK strongly supported the UN Resolution to authorise a Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) to Haiti. And on 9 April, in his press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the Foreign Secretary announced that the UK would be providing over £5m to the MSS.
Asked by: Anna McMorrin (Labour - Cardiff North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department’s development objectives in the Caribbean of the (a) security and (b) humanitarian situation in Haiti.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is committed to supporting a Haitian-led political solution to the escalating violence in the country, and commends the efforts of Caribbean partners to work towards a return to security and stability. I [Minister Rutley] attended the Caribbean Heads of Government meeting (CARICOM) in Guyana on 26 February and heard their concerns on the security situation in Haiti. The UK Government assists Haiti through our financial contributions to UN agencies and the World Bank. We are increasing support for the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) to secure their borders in response to worsening violence in neighbouring Haiti.
Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the political and security situation in Haiti; and what action they are taking with international partners to help stabilise the country and end the violence there.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK remains committed to supporting a Haitian-led political solution to the escalating violence in Haiti and supporting the efforts of Caribbean partners to achieve a return to security and stability. The UK government assists Haiti through our financial contributions to UN agencies and the World Bank.
Ensuring the safety and security of people in the neighbouring UK overseas territory of Turks and Caicos Islands is vital and the UK government has increased its support for the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) to secure their borders. Minister Rutley, as Minister for the Caribbean, attended the Caribbean Heads of Government meeting (CARICOM) in Guyana on 26 February and heard their concerns on the security situation in Haiti.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 European Union counterparts on the July 2023 summit declaration between the European Union and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States that referred to the Falklands Islands as Islas Malvinas.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We engage in multilateral and bilateral fora, including with the European Union and its Member States, in support of the Falkland Islanders' right of self-determination. Following publication of the EU - Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) Summit communiqué, the EU publicly clarified their position has not changed. We will, in all fora at which the UK is present, continue to insist on the use of the name that the Islanders recognise and wish to use: the Falkland Islands. This reflects the UK's unequivocal commitment to upholding the Falkland Islanders' right of self-determination, including in our discussions with the EU and its Member States.
Asked by: Lord Shinkwin (Conservative - Life peer)
Question
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the ethnicity pay gap for (1) people of Bangladeshi heritage, (2) people of Pakistani heritage, and (3) people of African Caribbean heritage, for each of the past five years.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The most recent data available on UK ethnicity pay gaps is for 2022. The adjusted pay gaps for the most recent 5 years (2018 to 2022) for the Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Caribbean ethnic groups are provided below. A positive percentage value for the ethnicity pay gap means that the relevant ethnic group earns less than the white reference group.
Adjusted Ethnicity Pay Gaps | Bangladeshi | Pakistani | Caribbean |
2022 | UK born 8.3% Non UK born 17.4% | UK born estimate considered unreliable (-2.0%) Non UK born 14.1% | UK born 3.3% Non UK born 4.7% |
2021 | UK born 18.3% Non UK born 20.4% | UK born 9.5% Non UK born 11.9% | UK born 8.0% Non UK born 10.5% |
2020 | UK born 3.5% Non UK born 22.6% | UK born 12.1% Non UK born 20.8% | UK born 4.2% Non UK born estimate considered unreliable (3.7%) |
2019 | UK born 7.0% Non UK born 20.6% | UK born 3.2% Non UK born 16.0% | UK born 6.3% Non UK born 11.9% |
2018 | UK born 9.7% Non UK born 28.7% | UK born 6.1% Non UK born 14.7% | UK born 7.5% Non UK born 9.4% |
Adjusted pay gaps account for a variety of pay determining characteristics such as occupation, age, sex and geographical region. These figures are split into UK and non-UK born as we do not have the overall adjusted pay gap available for these specific ethnic groups. Further data on ethnicity pay gaps is available from the ONS website at https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/articles/ethnicitypaygapsingreatbritain/2012to2022/relateddata.
Closing ethnicity pay gaps requires much wider shifts in society. Our ambitious Inclusive Britain strategy, published in March 2022, set out 74 bold actions to tackle entrenched ethnic disparities in employment, education, health and criminal justice. This includes our comprehensive guidance for employers on ethnicity pay reporting, published last April, which set out best practice on measuring, analysing and reporting ethnicity pay gaps. We also launched an Inclusion at Work Panel last year aimed at helping employers achieve fairness and inclusion in the workplace.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether his Department is taking steps to provide additional funding for security in Haiti in the context of recent violence in that country.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is committed to supporting a Haitian-led political solution to the escalating violence in the country, and commends the efforts of Caribbean partners to work towards a return to security and stability. I [Minister Rutley] attended the Caribbean Heads of Government meeting (CARICOM) in Guyana on 26 February and heard their concerns on the security situation in Haiti. The UK Government assists Haiti through our financial contributions to UN agencies and the World Bank. We are increasing support for the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) to secure their borders in response to worsening violence in neighbouring Haiti.
Asked by: Anna McMorrin (Labour - Cardiff North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what discussions he has had with his Haitian counterparts on the security situation in that country.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is committed to supporting a Haitian-led political solution to the escalating violence in the country, and commends the efforts of Caribbean partners to work towards a return to security and stability. I [Minister Rutley] attended the Caribbean Heads of Government meeting (CARICOM) in Guyana on 26 February and heard their concerns on the security situation in Haiti.
We are also increasing support for the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) to secure their borders in response to worsening violence in neighbouring Haiti.
Asked by: Damian Collins (Conservative - Folkestone and Hythe)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assistance has been provided for the development of digital infrastructure in (a) the British Overseas Territories and (b) Caribbean Commonwealth countries since 2014.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Whilst digital infrastructure is a mostly devolved matter, the UK provides significant support to the four Official Development Assistance (ODA) eligible Territories. The FCDO-funded capital investment programme in Montserrat recently delivered a sub-sea fibre cable and in St Helena we are supporting improvements in the local telecommunications infrastructure.
The UK has not provided support for digital infrastructure in the Caribbean through our bilateral ODA. However, we continue to support the development of digital infrastructure through our shareholding in multilateral agencies including the World Bank, Inter-American and Caribbean Development Banks.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how much of the UK aid pledged to Dominica following Hurricane Maria has been distributed to which projects.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK provided over £196 million to all the countries impacted by Hurricanes Irma and Maria. For Dominica, this included £7 million in humanitarian relief and a £25 million reconstruction grant through the UK Caribbean Infrastructure Fund for water and wastewater infrastructure upgrades. In addition, the UK has committed over £46 million to further strengthen resilience in Dominica, through: the Climate Resilience Execution Agency of Dominica (£3.8 million); retrofitting seven health facilities (£5.5 million); geothermal well drilling (£8.7 million); skills training for disadvantaged youth (£2 million); small business development; technical assistance in disaster preparedness; and £26 million to renovate the Loubiere to Grand Bay Road.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what the cost to the public purse was of Official Development Assistance funding to Montserrat in (a) 2021, (b) 2022 and (c) 2023.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Montserrat remains stricken by volcanic eruptions which occurred 29 years ago. Through the FCDO's Budget Support Programme, we provided £23.6 million in Financial Year 2021/2022, £28.8 million in Financial Year 22/23 and are providing £30.32 million in Financial Year 2023/2024 to support critical public services. Through the FCDO funded Capital Investment Programme for Resilient Economic Growth, we are providing £40 million over six years (2019-2025) to rebuild critical infrastructure, including a new hospital. The FCDO are providing £4.5 million through the Improving Essential Equipment for Aided Overseas Territories Programme from 2022-2024. Through FCDO administered CSSF Justice, Governance, and Border Security Programmes, we provide approximately £2 million annually, and we provided £1.86 million during the pandemic through the CSSF Covid-19 programme. We provide approximately £60,000 annually through the International Programme and the FCDO's UK's Caribbean Infrastructure Fund is providing £28.3 million to the Montserrat Port Development Project.