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Written Question
Poverty: Children
Monday 25th March 2024

Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has had recent discussions with (a) Unicef and (b) the United Nations Rapporteur on extreme poverty on initiatives to tackle child poverty.

Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

DWP officials engage with a wide range of stakeholders including UNICEF.


Written Question
Development Aid
Tuesday 5th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how they differentiate their approach in the delivery of aid between (1) low income, and (2) lower-middle income, countries

Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The White Paper on International Development sets out how the UK will target aid where it is most needed and most effective. We will prioritise grant resources to the lowest income countries and communities and aim to spend 50 per cent of our bilateral Official Development Assistance (ODA) in the Least Developed Countries (LDCs). LDCs includes many low-income and lower-middle income countries. They are the least able to finance their development through taxes, borrowing or investment, and most of the world's poorest people live in LDCs which are either fragile, conflict-affected or vulnerable to climate change. This focus on LDCs will inform all our ODA spending.

We expect to spend less ODA in contexts where other sources of finance are available and will draw on ODA only as necessary in our partnerships with middle-income countries (MICs). We recognise MICs are a broad and variable group and their status masks pockets of extreme poverty and inequality, as well as acute humanitarian needs. ODA can be used in a targeted way to support their objectives and our shared priorities.


Written Question
Development Aid
Wednesday 28th February 2024

Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent steps his department has taken to improve the efficiency of UK aid programmes with regards to (a) reducing poverty and (b) increasing prosperity

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

Last November, the UK published the International Development White Paper which set out our agenda to re-energise progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, including the central aim of eliminating extreme poverty. To this end, the UK has committed to spend at least 50 per cent of our bilateral ODA in the Least Developed Countries by 2030.

Our goal, as set out in the White Paper, is to help countries transform the productivity of their economies at a pace sufficient to meet the needs of their growing populations, mobilise investment, provide quality jobs and deliver quality public services for their citizens.


Written Question
Ethiopia: Food Supply
Monday 26th February 2024

Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the food security situation in Ethiopia as of 16 February 2024; and what steps his Department is taking to help support those most in need.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

Multiple, overlapping crises are causing concerning levels of critical food insecurity across Ethiopia. The UK is committed to providing support to the most vulnerable and those in desperate need. We have already increased our humanitarian support this financial year by over 50 percent, from £46 million to £74 million in order to better respond to the immediate crisis, including a £23 million contribution to the Productive Safety Net Programme that will reach a further 350,000 people living in extreme poverty across Ethiopia. Additionally, I recently announced £100 million to the Ending Preventable Deaths Programme that will support over three million people across the country.


Written Question
West Africa: Timber
Tuesday 13th February 2024

Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have assessed the amount of rosewood timber that is exported from West African countries such as Mali, The Gambia and Senegal; what steps they have taken to ban or control within UK markets the sale of products made from West African rosewood; and what steps they have taken to protect endangered wild species, including rosewood in West Africa.

Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK is currently contributing funding towards a Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) study on the conservation and trade in rosewood tree species but does yet not have an assessment of rosewood timber exports. We have robust mechanisms in place through the UK Timber Regulations (UKTR), which prohibit the placing of illegally harvested timber and timber products on the GB market and require operators - those first placing timber products on the market - to exercise due diligence. Those who trade in timber and timber products after they have been placed on the market are required to keep records of who they buy timber products from and any traders they sell them to. This enables timber and timber products to be traced.

The primary objective of the UKTR is to tackle illegal logging and to create a demand for legally harvested timber. Implementing the Regulations enables the protection of forests around the world, supporting the Government’s ambition to lead the world in environmental protection, end extreme poverty, and be at the forefront of action against global climate change.

The requirement to exercise due diligence under UKTR does not apply where a valid CITES permit accompanies the timber.

Rosewood species (Dalbergia and Guibourtia spp.) are listed on the CITES Appendices and so most rosewood timber imports into the UK will need a valid permit. Permit applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis by the UK CITES Management Authority, which will only issue permits if it has been possible to determine that the specimens to be imported were legally acquired and sustainably harvested.

The Government provides grants to a wide range of stakeholders to contribute to the protection of endangered wild species, including tackling illegal wildlife trade in West Africa, through the Biodiversity Challenge Funds. While these do not address rosewood in West Africa specifically, this has included empowering communities to protect their forests by the Society for the Conservation of Nature of Liberia, and supporting Royal Botanic Gardens Kew to monitor and halt illegal timber trade through DNA barcoding in Gabon and Congo (Brazzaville).

Further information on these examples and other projects supported by the Biodiversity Challenge Funds can be found at the websites of the Darwin Initiative and the Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund.


Written Question
Development Aid
Friday 9th February 2024

Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent steps his Department has taken to improve the effectiveness of UK aid programmes in (a) reducing poverty, (b) increasing literacy rates and (c) increasing life expectancies.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

The International Development White Paper sets out the UK's agenda to re-energise progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, including the central aim of eliminating extreme poverty. To this end, the UK aims to spend at least 50 per cent of our bilateral ODA in the Least Developed Countries.

The FCDO has developed two new programmes that will measure and assess literacy rates, among other objectives. The Scaling Access and Learning in Education programme will help transform the effectiveness of education spending in low- and lower middle-income countries and improve learning outcomes, including on literacy. The Data for Foundational Learning Programme will help track children's learning outcomes globally; generate more learning data nationally; and ensure these data are used.

We are making good progress against the Global Health Framework, which outlines the UK's work on Global Health to support a positive impact on health and wellbeing and thus life expectancy. For example, we announced £5 million of additional funding to TB Alliance to support more effective drug resistant treatment with fewer side effects and £370 million to strengthen global health security at United Nations General Assembly September 2023.

Furthermore, the FCDO is committed to improving the effectiveness of all UK aid. FCDO's Programme Operating Framework maximises the impact of aid through consideration of economy, efficiency, effectiveness and equity. Programmes undergo an annual review of effectiveness, using a results framework. These are published to the Development Tracker website (https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk), which further supports aid effectiveness by providing information to inform other donors spending decisions.


Written Question
Ethiopia: Famine
Thursday 8th February 2024

Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether his Department is providing emergency humanitarian assistance to help avert famine in Ethiopia.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

The UK is committed to providing support to the most vulnerable and those in desperate need. We have already increased our humanitarian support this financial year to £74 million. This includes a £23 million contribution to the Productive Safety Net Programme that will reach a further 350,000 people living in extreme poverty across Ethiopia. Additionally, the UK recently announced £100 million of funding that includes providing lifesaving nutritional support.


Written Question
Developing Countries: Poverty
Tuesday 6th February 2024

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, with reference to the report by the UN entitled The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022, published on 9 May 2022, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle poverty in the countries identified in that report as having the highest number of people living in extreme poverty.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

The UK is firmly committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)s and the fundamental principle to 'Leave No one Behind'. The International Development White Paper sets out how we will reinvigorate progress on the Goals and work with partners to address the interlinked challenges of poverty, climate change and biodiversity loss. The UK will prioritise its Official Development Assistance (ODA) where it is most needed and most effective, aiming to spend 50 per cent of all bilateral ODA in the least developed countries. We are increasing our support for the poorest and most vulnerable, including plans to nearly double our aid allocations to low-income countries in 2024-25.


Written Question
Armed Conflict: Children
Tuesday 30th January 2024

Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with reference to the policy paper entitled International development in a contested world: ending extreme poverty and tackling climate change, a white paper on international development, published on 20 November 2023, what recent progress his Department has made on developing a new strategy on children in conflict.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

The UK recognises that protecting children from the effects of armed conflict is a moral, legal, and strategic imperative and essential in breaking the cycle of violence.

As announced in the International Development White Paper, published in November 2023, the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office is committed to publishing a children in conflict strategy. This will be the first UK Government strategy on this agenda and marks a step-change in our commitment to the protection of children affected by conflict. Officials are beginning work on the strategy.


Written Question
Development Aid: Climate Change and Poverty
Tuesday 23rd January 2024

Asked by: Oliver Heald (Conservative - North East Hertfordshire)

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with reference to UK International Development's white paper entitled International development in a contested world: ending extreme poverty and tackling climate change, published in November 2023, if his Department will publish a plan to deliver the policy commitments in that white paper.

Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)

International development in a contested world, the International Development White Paper, sets out our strategic goal, to end extreme poverty and tackle climate change and biodiversity loss, and how the UK can accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, through to 2030. The FCDO will set out how it is delivering the White Paper through existing departmental planning processes, including the Outcome Delivery Plan and the Annual Report and Accounts.