Blog

  • Ian Liddell-Grainger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Ian Liddell-Grainger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Liddell-Grainger on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what research her Department has conducted or commissioned on the link between poor sanitation and associated hygiene practices and maternal and newborn health and survival.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    DFID is providing £16 million over 8 years for SHARE (Sanitation and Hygiene Applied Research for Equity), a research consortium led by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. SHARE has funded five key studies which have significantly advanced our understanding of this critical issue and put water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) firmly on the global maternal & newborn health (MNH) agenda. Research includes a systematic review establishing the impact of WASH on maternal mortality and a cohort study in Odisha, India that has provided the first rigorous evidence that poor sanitation during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of preterm birth, low birthweight, spontaneous abortion and still birth

    DFID is also providing £7.2 million of funding to support the Sanitation, Hygiene Infant Nutrition Efficacy (SHINE) trial currently underway in Zimbabwe. The trial aims to prove and describe the causal relationship between sanitation and child stunting.

  • Ian Liddell-Grainger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Ian Liddell-Grainger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Liddell-Grainger on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what information her Department holds on the number of child mortalities attributable to infections caused by (a) lack of access to safe water and (b) unclean environments of each of the last five years.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The most recent estimates from WHO are that diarrhoea caused by inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene results in 842,000 deaths each year in low and middle income countries. Of these, 502,000 deaths are due to inadequate and unsafe drinking water, 280,000 deaths are due to inadequate sanitation and 297,000 are due to inadequate hygiene. WHO indicate that 361,000 of these deaths each year are among children under-five. This equates to nearly 1,000 unnecessary deaths in children under-five every day. WHO has identified a range of other diseases linked to inadequate water sanitation and hygiene but has not provided recent estimates of the number of deaths caused by these infections. These diseases include infections such as trachoma and malaria.

    DFID reached over 62 million people with water, sanitation and/or hygiene in the five years to 2014/15. We are currently formulating our new portfolio to deliver on the UK government’s commitment to help a further 60 million people get access to clean water and sanitation by 2020.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent discussions she has had with the UN Relief and Work Agency of the potential effect of financial shortfalls in (a) 2015-16 and (b) future on the provision of aid to the Palestinian Territories.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    The Secretary of State for International Development met UNRWA’s Commissioner General, Pierre Krahenbuhl, in December 2015 to reaffirm the UK’s commitment to UNRWA. Their discussion also focused on the important reforms UNRWA has been undertaking to address their chronic deficit and the need for UNRWA to diversify their donor base. The UK remains the third largest donor to UNRWA’s core budget and emergency appeals, in recognition of the important work that UNRWA does and that Palestinian refugees are a particularly vulnerable group across the region.

  • Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Fiona Bruce – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Fiona Bruce on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that all children and young people affected by the Syrian conflict are in school and learning by the 2016-17 school year.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    At the Conference on Supporting Syria and the Region taking place on February 4th in London co-hosted by the UK, Norway, Germany, Kuwait and the UN, we want the international community to agree a new goal that all Syrian refugee children and affected host country children are in education – formal school or non-formal – by the end of 2016/17. Equally, for inside Syria, it is our aim to increase access to good quality schooling or other learning opportunities such as self-learning and non-formal education. In neighbouring countries we will also increase access to vocational or skills training and higher education for children and youth.

    At the Conference our ambition is that international donors, governments from countries in the region hosting refugees, non-governmental organisations and the private sector come together to agree a set of reciprocal financial and policy commitments. The UK and co-hosts are working with donors and other partners to secure increased funding for education under the UN-led appeals for 2016 and longer term, multi-year education funding commitments to ensure sustainability. We are also working with refugee hosting governments in particular to agree the policy commitments necessary to turn increased funding into delivery on the ground.

  • Ian Liddell-Grainger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Ian Liddell-Grainger – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Liddell-Grainger on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what the three most common causes of global child mortality were in each of the last five years.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    According to the latest estimates by the World Health Organisation (WHO) of the 5.9 million deaths in children under five that occurred in 2015 about half were caused by infectious diseases.

    The three main killers in 2015 were; pneumonia (17 percent), preterm birth complications (16 percent) and neonatal intrapartum- related complications (11 percent). Others included; diarrhoea (8 percent), neonatal sepsis (7 percent) and malaria (5 percent). These causes of death have remained consistent over the last five years, despite an overall reduction of deaths worldwide. Almost half of all under-five deaths had malnutrition as an underlying cause and more than 80 percent of newborn deaths (deaths in the first month of life) occur among newborn infants of low birth weight in the highest burden settings.

    Given the multifaceted nature of child health DFID promotes a multi-sectoral approach to address causes of child mortality. This includes supporting interventions to address the direct; the intermediate; and the underlying causes of death. Examples include large (over £1.32 bn from 2011-15) financial contributions to GAVI, the global vaccine alliance, as well as more specific programmes to reduce childhood malnutrition, provide better care for newborns and promote clean water and sanitation. Our GAVI contribution has immunised 67.1m children. Other direct programmes to tackle child mortality have saved the lives of over 200,000 lives of children between 1 month and 5 years of age in the last five years. Many countries have seen dramatic changes for example, Ethiopia experienced a drop in child mortality of two thirds since 1990.

  • Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Richard Burden – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that adequate clean water is provided in refugee camps near the Syrian border.

    Mr Desmond Swayne

    The UK has been at the forefront of the response to the crisis in Syria and the region. We have pledged over £1.1 billion, our largest ever response to a single humanitarian crisis. We are the second largest bilateral donor after the US.

    In 2015/16 DFID is working with 18 humanitarian partners in countries neighbouring Syria. Our funding has provided access to clean water for over 980,000 people in these countries since the start of the crisis.

    In Jordan, DFID provides funding to UNICEF’s water supply work in refugee camps. In Zaatari Camp this involves the construction of boreholes in order to reduce daily running costs of trucking water into the camp. In December, for the first time since it opened, no external water trucking is needed for Zaatari camp. In Azraq Camp DFID contributes to the construction of boreholes, water distribution network and sanitation infrastructure.

    The vast majority of Syrian refugees live amongst host communities. The government’s response is therefore focused on refugees within these communities, not solely those in formal and informal camps. As a result, we are also funding Lebanese and Jordanian municipalities for the running of essential public services, including water and sanitation.

  • Stephen McPartland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    Stephen McPartland – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen McPartland on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 24 November 2015 to Question 17479, what recent steps her Department has taken to work with the government of Sierra Leone to deliver high-quality programmes that will increase access to clean water.

    Mr Nick Hurd

    The President of Sierra Leone has identified water as one of his top six priorities for the post-Ebola recovery period. In the first phase, the “early recovery” period, DFID is providing assistance to establish or improve water and sanitation facilities in over 250 health facilities and over 300 schools.

    In July 2015 the Secretary of State announced a new £240m commitment to Sierra Leone for to help the country recover from the Ebola crisis, including the better delivery of public services. DFID has been supporting the Presidential Delivery Team to prioritise needs for the next phase, which include Water, Health and Education. The UK’s support on water and sanitation will be determined when those prioritised plans have been agreed. It may involve further upgrading of health facilities and schools. Significant support is also envisaged for improving infrastructure, including the existing water distribution system in Freetown; improved waste management, through support to the Government’s National Waste Management Policy and Strategy; and further investment in a programme of Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) – building on our successful £58m WASH programme from 2010 to 2015 which resulted in over 1 million people gaining access to water and to sanitation in Sierra Leone.

  • Ruth Cadbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Ruth Cadbury – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ruth Cadbury on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that refugees admitted to the UK from Syria are provided with the necessary support to enable them to integrate into British society.

    Richard Harrington

    The Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement scheme is based on need and prioritises those who cannot be supported effectively in the region. Local authorities are expected to provide refugees that they resettle with a 12 month support package which is tailored according to their individual needs. As well as accommodation and addressing any medical and social care needs, this also includes cultural integration and English language tuition. This is funded using the overseas aid budget as it is giving support to refugees that would otherwise be provided overseas.

    At the Spending Review, the Government committed £129 million to assist with local authority costs over years 2-5 of the scheme. This will be allocated on a tariff basis over four years, tapering from £5,000 per person in their second year in the UK, to £1,000 per person in year five. There will also be a special cases fund to assist the most vulnerable refugees. This is a substantial level of funding which will enable local authorities to support these vulnerable people as they rebuild their lives in safe and secure surroundings, among supportive communities in the UK.

    We are working with offers of support from community groups and inidividuals to see how we can best take them up to further help people settle and integrate, and, where possible, find employment in the UK.

  • Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Julie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julie Cooper on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police officers in (a) Burnley, (b) Lancashire and (c) the North West are trained to use tasers.

    Mike Penning

    The Home Office does not hold information centrally on the number of police officers who are trained to use Taser.

    Taser deployments in each police force area are an operational matter for Chief Officers. This includes decisions on the number of specially trained officers deployed with Taser, which is based on the assessment of threat and risk.

  • Rosie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Rosie Cooper – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rosie Cooper on 2016-01-21.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if police forces will be required to provide information to the Disclosure and Barring Service where a person has been arrested and bailed pending an investigation into their alleged offences.

    Karen Bradley

    The Home Secretary issues guidance to chief officers of police under section 113B(4A) of the Police Act 1997, which they must have regard to in making decisions about providing information from police records for inclusion in enhanced criminal record certificates.

    This guidance extends, for example, to information held by the police relating to someone being arrested and bailed.