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  • Mark Pritchard – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Mark Pritchard – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will make representations requesting reforms of the management and administration of the World Food Programme to improve its effectiveness and efficiency.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    DFID continually works to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the World Food Programme (WFP). As an active donor and Executive Board member, DFID champions value for money and pursues increased efficiency and effectiveness in all areas including organisational reform, financial procedures and programme activities. DFID is also currently assessing WFP in its Multilateral Aid Review (MAR) 2015 and will use the MAR findings to take forward continued reform with WFP.

    Examples where DFID has pursued reform of management and administration of the WFP include the six-monthly Commercial Expertise Reviews which DFID conducts to assess procurement functions and make recommendations for increased efficiency. Another example is DFID support to the expanded forward purchasing facilities proposed by WFP which is leading to large cost savings.

  • Mark Pritchard – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Mark Pritchard – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will discuss with (a) EU partners and (b) the World Food Programme to ensure food supplies to people affected by the famine in Ethiopia.

    Grant Shapps

    We are extremely concerned about the impact of the current drought on the food security situation in Ethiopia. Ethiopia has shown great strides in development but remains fragile in the face of extreme climate events such as El Nino. The Government of Ethiopia is fully engaged and prioritising efforts to address the needs, having spent many years building up crisis response systems. The international community is working in support of the Government and the UK along with the EU, is one of the leading donors to the response. We are in daily contact with the World Food Programme (WFP) which is delivering supplies to people affected in support of the Government. A joint Government-UN assessment has just taken place and we are also assessing that food supplies reach those affected. We have also recently provided additional funding to WFP’s relief programme.

    DFID’s Permanent Secretary Mark Lowcock visited Ethiopia from 9-12 November, and discussed the situation with senior members of the Ethiopian Government and partners. We are urging others to do more to support the Government response to the crisis.

  • Kate Green – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Kate Green – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to implement the family test.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    The Family Test policy does not apply to DFID’s work as foreign policy is outside of the scope of the Test.

  • Mark Pritchard – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Mark Pritchard – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mark Pritchard on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what additional support her Department plans to give to Ethiopia because of drought in that country in 2015-16.

    Grant Shapps

    We are extremely concerned about the impact of the current drought on the food security situation in Ethiopia. A joint Government of Ethiopia and UN assessment is underway and we are in touch with our UN and Non-Governmental Organisation partners on the ground to determine the extent of need.

    In October, the Government of Ethiopia announced that about 8.2 million people are in need of emergency food aid, up from the 4.5 million estimated in August. The number of severely malnourished children under five years old admitted to therapeutic feeding programmes this year has increased notably.

    Britain has acted quickly and decisively by providing emergency support for 2.6 million people. This includes food aid for 2.1 million people for a month. The Government of Ethiopia has also committed its largest ever response to a drought. The international community will need to work hard with the Government of Ethiopia to prevent the crisis from worsening in the coming months.

    DFID is at the forefront of resilience work to reduce the impact of crises in developing countries. In Ethiopia, DFID’s Productive Safety Nets Programme (PSNP) has helped turn desert land into land that can be farmed again.

  • Imran Hussain – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Imran Hussain – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what projects her Department (a) has and (b) is planning to facilitate transition in Burma from dictatorship to democracy.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    DFID’s bilateral commitment to Burma between 2011/12 and 2015/16 is around £285 million. DFID has allocated £25 million over five years to strengthen democratic governance in Burma, including support to the elections, through our Programme for Democratic Change. DFID is currently reviewing our approach for all country programmes for the next five years as part of the government’s overall spending review and any decisions about future support will be made in due course.

  • Imran Hussain – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Imran Hussain – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what effect the outcome of the elections in Burma in November 2015 will have on her Department’s funding to projects in that country.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    I congratulate the people of Burma on their historic elections which are an important step towards greater democracy. DFID is currently reviewing our approach for all country programmes for the next five years as part of the government’s overall spending review.

  • Imran Hussain – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Imran Hussain – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Imran Hussain on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much funding the UK has allocated to the International Foundation for Electoral Systems over the last five years; and how much such funding was allocated to that body for the purpose of overseeing elections in Burma.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    Over the last five years DFID has allocated around £9 million to the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES). DFID has provided £2.7 million for IFES to provide technical support to the Union Election Commission in Burma. It has supported the UEC to train polling station staff and to develop procedures for the accreditation of nationwide international and domestic observation for the first time in Burma’s history.

  • Hilary Benn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Hilary Benn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 9 November 2015 to Question 14770, when she plans to publish the contribution the UK will make to the World Food Programme for 2016.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    The UK is currently the second largest donor to the WFP, after the United States. For 2015, the UK has so far provided a total of £270.6million in funding to WFP. UK contributions are made up of unearmarked core funding (£40m in total for the financial year 2015/16) and bilateral funding allocated by DFID country offices (which represents the biggest proportion of UK funding).

    DFID will be in a position to announce the UK core contribution to WFP for the financial year 2016 / 2017 once the Multilateral Aid Review 2015 (MAR 2015) is published in March 2016. UK core contribution will be informed by the results of the MAR assessment of WFP and the review of WFP performance and effectiveness in using the core funding provided by UK.

    Bilateral funding is decided by DFID at country level and is based on needs.

  • Hilary Benn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Hilary Benn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to her Department’s summary of its work in Indonesia 2011-15, published in June 2013, how many hectares of natural forest have been saved since the programme to protect forests in that country started.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    Our programme with Indonesia helps it to achieve low carbon growth and reduce poverty by managing its forests, land and natural resources in a sustainable way, and assists the country to meet its emissions targets. As part of this the UK supported the development of a Provincial Spatial Plan in Papua which was agreed in 2013. The spatial plan commits to preserving 90% of forest cover by 2100. The UK is providing support to the Papua Provincial Government to ensure effective implementation and monitoring of the Spatial Plan. If this target of 90% is realised, the spatial plan will preserve around 28 million hectares of natural forest. As with all projects, performance against indicators is published on an annual basis. Multilateral forest programmes, which the UK supports through the World Bank, and a centrally-managed programme, which assists the Indonesian government to tackleillegal logging, also contribute towards efforts to halt deforestation in Indonesia.

  • Neil Gray – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    Neil Gray – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the House of Commons Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Neil Gray on 2015-11-10.

    To ask the hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington representing the House of Commons Commission, for what reasons a fire safety contract with Norland Managed Services, London has been awarded outwith the Restoration and Renewal project for the Palace of Westminster.

    Tom Brake

    This contract is one element of a wider programme to achieve compliance with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 by the end of 2018, in accordance with a commitment the House made in 2011 to the Crown Premises Inspection Group.

    Achieving compliance will reduce the risk of fire causing loss of life or injury to individuals, destroying or damaging the building, or disrupting the work of Parliament.