Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with its counterpart in Honduras on supporting that country to recover from the effects of (a) the covid-19 pandemic and (b) recent hurricanes.
Answered by Wendy Morton
On 17 May, the Minister of State for the Pacific and Environment, the Rt Hon Lord Zac Goldsmith, met with Honduran Secretary of State, Carlos Madero. They discussed Honduras' reconstruction plan, environmental issues, and vaccines. The UK provided immediate humanitarian support to Honduras in response to the devastation caused by storms Eta and Iota, which struck Central America in November 2020. The UK also contributed £1m to the International Red Cross for their post-hurricane relief efforts, and an additional £224k worth of relief items were delivered by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessel Argus. Honduras has so far received 200,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine through the COVAX mechanism. The UK is fully committed to COVAX as the best way to ensure global equitable access for priority vulnerable populations, and that is why we have donated more than £548 million to the process. The British Embassy in Guatemala City (non-Resident for Honduras) has regularly engaged with the Honduran government and the private sector about the impact of the pandemic, and storms Eta and Iota, including facilitating donations from GSK (1,000 inhalator chambers, and 1,844 boxes of Panadol) to the Honduran Government, and supporting communication between AstraZeneca and the Honduran Minister of Health.
Asked by: Rachel Reeves (Labour - Leeds West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish a list of countries the UK has imported personal protection equipment from each month in the last six months.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We have continued to receive personal protective equipment (PPE) ordered earlier in the pandemic to provide a reliable and sustainable stockpile. The following table shows the available data on inbound supply from September 2020 to February 2021.
September 2020 | China, Egypt, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Malaysia, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United States of America, Vietnam |
October 2020 | Belgium, Cambodia, China, Estonia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Malaysia, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Vietnam |
November 2020 | Cambodia, China, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Malaysia, Malta, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, USA, Vietnam |
December 2020 | Cambodia, China, France, Germany, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, USA, Vietnam |
January 2021 | Cambodia, China, France, Germany, Italy, Malaysia, Thailand, Turkey, USA, Vietnam |
February 2021 | China, France, Germany, Italy, Malaysia, Thailand, Turkey, USA, Vietnam |
Alongside the central programme, some providers or wholesalers may have continued to procure stock from other countries.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the political situation in El Salvador.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The UK Government welcomes the fact that the legislative and municipal elections in El Salvador on 28 February were largely peaceful, and that the results appear to reflect the will of the people. However, we were concerned at the shrinking of political and media space in the run up to the elections.
The UK is keen to strengthen its bilateral relationship with El Salvador, and will continue to follow post-election developments closely. Our Embassy in San Salvador regularly engages with the Government of El Salvador and other partners on areas of shared interest, including human rights, governance, climate change, and implementation of the new UK-Central America Association Agreement. I also raised a number of these issues with the El Salvador Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alexandra Hill, when we spoke in October 2020.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if she will publish the £4.92 billion in outward foreign direct investment wins reported by her Department in its 2019-20 annual report by the nine target regions for outward foreign direct investment wins set out in that report, namely (a) Africa, (b) Asia Pacific, (c) China and Hong Kong, (d) Eastern Europe and Central Asia, (e) Europe, (f) Latin America and the Caribbean, (g) Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan, (h) North America and (i) South Asia.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department is not able to provide, reliably, the breakdowns requested.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if she will publish the £24.4 billion in export wins reported by her Department in its 2019-20 annual report by the nine target regions for export wins set out in that report, namely (a) Africa, (b) Asia Pacific, (c) China and Hong Kong, (d) Eastern Europe and Central Asia, (e) Europe, (f) Latin America and the Caribbean, (g) Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan, (h) North America and (i) South Asia.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department is not able to provide, reliably, the breakdowns requested.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much Official Development Assistance was spent in total in (a) the Sahel, (b) the Western Balkans, (c) Ukraine, (d) the Caucasus, (e) sub-Saharan Africa, (f) South Asia, (g) Central Asia, (h) Middle East and North Africa, (i) the Caribbean, (j) Central America, and (k) South America in 2020.
Answered by Nigel Adams
Detail on UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) spending in 2020 is not currently available.
In April, FCDO will publish "SID: Provisional UK Aid Spend 2020". This publication will contain provisional bilateral ODA totals for FCDO by SID region - Africa, Asia, Americas, Europe and Pacific.
In the Autumn, FCDO will publish "SID: Final UK Aid Spend 2020". This publication will contain detailed breakdowns as well as activity level dataset. This dataset will enable the UK ODA spend to be separated into the categories set out in the question - (a) to (k).
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effect of the reduction in the Official Development Assistance on the UK’s ambition to support research to tackle (a) climate change, (b) biodiversity loss and other global challenges.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government remains committed to international development and will continue to provide £10 billion of Official Development Assistance (ODA) in 2021-22to fight poverty, tackle climate change and improve global health.
The Government’s commitment to research and innovation is clearly demonstrated through the recently published R&D Roadmap, and the £400m uplift in R&D spending announced in the Spending Review. International collaboration is a central feature of a healthy and productive R&D sector.
We are committed to doubling UK’s International Climate Finance (ICF) to £11.6bn in the years 2021-2025. Our ICF helps to reduce deforestation and carbon emissions, for instance through our £200m+ investment to support green recovery across Africa, Asia and Latin America since June 2020.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make it his policy to provide funding and long term support for people affected by Hurricane ETA.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The British Government is supporting the humanitarian response in Central America in the wake of the devastation caused by Hurricanes Eta and Iota. The Start Fund, to which the UK contributes, has released funding to NGOs in Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala for immediate humanitarian assistance. FCDO has also procured aid supplies, including emergency shelter kits, to be distributed by local partners across the region. The British Government funded NGO, Map Action, is providing crucial mapping services to support regional relief efforts.
We have also deployed RFA Argus, a ship of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, to support the US military's relief operations in Honduras. We are donating £1 million to the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) emergency appeal. The UK is also a large donor to multilateral agencies already responding across the region, including the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and the World Food Programme. We are continuing to monitor the situation, and will consider providing further support as required.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assistance the Government has offered to countries affected by Hurricane Eta.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The British Government is supporting the humanitarian response in Central America in the wake of the devastation caused by Hurricane Eta. The UK is a large donor to many of the multilateral agencies who are already responding across the region, including the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and the World Food Programme. The Start Fund, to which the UK contributes, has activated in Nicaragua to provide food, water, and sanitation to those affected. The Fund is considering further activations in Honduras and Guatemala. The UK-funded NGO Map Action is providing crucial mapping services to support regional relief efforts. We are continuing to monitor the situation, and stand ready to provide further support as required.
Asked by: Viscount Waverley (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their strategy for future trade relations with Latin America.
Answered by Lord Grimstone of Boscobel
The Department for International Trade works extensively in Latin America and the Caribbean to strengthen the United Kingdom’s trade and investment relationships, with staff based in?19 countries?across the region.
The United Kingdom has concluded trade continuity agreements with Chile, CARIFORUM, six Central American countries and the Andean Community (Colombia, Peru and Ecuador), which will allow United Kingdom business to continue trading on preferential terms.
Additionally, HM Government is working with Peru, Mexico and Chile as part of the United Kingdom’s potential accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
Ministers also regularly discuss trade with their counterparts, including through dialogues such as the UK-Brazil Joint Economic and Trade Committee.