Results 1-20 of 2,936 for in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates' speaker:Lynne Featherstone

[1st Allocated Day]: New Clause 7 — General anti-tax avoidance principle (17 April 2013)

Lynne Featherstone: indicated dissent.

Oral Answers to Questions — International Development: WaterAid (13 March 2013)

Lynne Featherstone: The total funding provided by the Department for International Development to WaterAid for the financial year 2011-2012 was £5.8 million. The figure for the funding allocated to WaterAid in 2012-13 will be available at the end of this financial year.

Oral Answers to Questions — International Development: WaterAid (13 March 2013)

Lynne Featherstone: I thank my hon. Friend. I know of her interest in water as chair of the all-party parliamentary water group and I congratulate all those who make a contribution on the key issue of water in developing countries. My hon. Friend mentioned world water day. The Department for International Development will host events on that day, particularly on how water impacts on girls and women.

Oral Answers to Questions — International Development: WaterAid (13 March 2013)

Lynne Featherstone: The Government are taking a great many measures on water, sanitation and hygiene—WASH. We have so far enabled 1.9 million to gain access to clean drinking water and 2 million to gain access to improved sanitation, and 6.6 million have been reached through DFID support for hygiene promotion. We know more has to be done, particularly in urban areas as those areas increase.

Oral Answers to Questions — International Development: WaterAid (13 March 2013)

Lynne Featherstone: I will certainly take up the hon. Gentleman’s point on how we measure such things, but the Government have doubled their commitment to reaching 60 million people with WASH funding. We are looking to scale up WASH, because we simply are not reaching enough people at the moment and the millennium goal is off track.

Oral Answers to Questions — International Development: Mali (13 March 2013)

Lynne Featherstone: The UK Government do not have a bilateral aid programme in Mali, but we are the second-largest humanitarian donor, providing £13 million in 2013. We have had discussions with our EU and multilateral partners, including the UN, on the importance of co-ordinated resumption of aid.

Oral Answers to Questions — International Development: Mali (13 March 2013)

Lynne Featherstone: The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. We are encouraging the resumption of aid by bilateral partners. In May, there will be a donor conference on Mali, which is an important step, not just as a pledging conference. There is a political crisis in Mali, and the solution is political, which is why we welcome the recent announcement by the Malian authorities to initiate a commission on...

Oral Answers to Questions — International Development: Mali (13 March 2013)

Lynne Featherstone: I thank my right hon. Friend. This very issue was discussed at the recent Development Ministers meeting. Stability in the Sahel—the wider region—is of absolute importance. The UK has committed £78 million in humanitarian support to the Sahel through various United Nations agencies, and we continue to work right across the region to create stability and peace.

Oral Answers to Questions — International Development: Nigeria (Education) (30 January 2013)

Lynne Featherstone: As discussed with you, Mr Speaker, and as Labour Front Benchers have been advised, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is in Kuwait for an international conference on the humanitarian crisis in Syria. I hope that the House will accept her apologies for not being here to answer questions today. Our education programmes in Nigeria have already reached 1.25 million children by improving...

Oral Answers to Questions — International Development: Nigeria (Education) (30 January 2013)

Lynne Featherstone: I thank my hon. Friend for his question and for his work on the all-party group on global education for all. He goes to the heart of the matter, which is not just the number of children coming into school but the quality of the teaching. The statistics show that in Kwara, for example, only 75 of 19,000 teachers passed a test for nine-year-olds—that gives some idea of the scale of the...

Oral Answers to Questions — International Development: Nigeria (Education) (30 January 2013)

Lynne Featherstone: My hon. Friend raises an important point. All UK companies have the opportunity to get involved and engaged. If he knows the names of the companies concerned, I would be only too happy to contact them myself.

Oral Answers to Questions — International Development: West Africa (Food Security) (30 January 2013)

Lynne Featherstone: The UK is improving food security in west Africa through investment in agricultural research, innovative agribusiness, improving access to markets and supporting national food security plans. We work through country programmes in Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Liberia, and international organisations such as the World Bank.

Oral Answers to Questions — International Development: West Africa (Food Security) (30 January 2013)

Lynne Featherstone: The hon. Lady points to the fragility of this area and its food security. Crises arise from chronic vulnerabilities that need long-term solutions. We are supporting multilateral efforts to promote resilience in the Sahel to ensure that its communities can deal with the shocks and do not face dire consequences in future. We are currently preparing a Sahel resilience strategy.

Oral Answers to Questions — International Development: West Africa (Food Security) (30 January 2013)

Lynne Featherstone: The Prime Minister is quite right. The work that we are doing to give land title to smallholders means that they have security and can work their land without it being taken from them.

Oral Answers to Questions — International Development: West Africa (Food Security) (30 January 2013)

Lynne Featherstone: As I said just now, some of our programmes involve land titles for smallholders, and the UK welcomes the successful negotiation of voluntary guidelines on the responsible government of land tenure, fisheries and forests that was concluded at the Committee on World Food Security last year. The UK is working to promote transparency of land administration and security of tenure in a number of...

Oral Answers to Questions — International Development: Mali (30 January 2013)

Lynne Featherstone: There is a serious humanitarian situation in Mali, with over 360,000 displaced people since March 2012. We do not give bilateral development aid directly to the Government of Mali, but we provide significant assistance to the region through the World Bank, EU and other multilaterals.

Oral Answers to Questions — International Development: Mali (30 January 2013)

Lynne Featherstone: My hon. Friend raises an important point. British people who support our aid and development programme need to know that money is being spent effectively and I can give him the assurance he seeks. Even in the crisis situation in Mali, agencies in receipt of our humanitarian support are tried and trusted, neutral and impartial humanitarian organisations with a history of effective operations...

Oral Answers to Questions — International Development: Mali (30 January 2013)

Lynne Featherstone: My hon. Friend is entirely right. Where instability and conflict reign, into such ungoverned space comes threats, not only to those in Mali but to the wider world, including the UK. That is why the territorial integrity of Mali must be protected, democratic government restored, terrorism dealt with, and the humanitarian situation addressed. My hon. Friend seeks assurance. We are providing...

Oral Answers to Questions — International Development: Mali (30 January 2013)

Lynne Featherstone: Thank you, Mr Speaker. If I heard correctly, the right hon. Gentleman’s question was about whether we can access those areas. Health non-governmental organisations are still operating in some hospitals and health centres in northern Mali, although NGOs and aid agencies have in some cases been forced to suspend their outreach work temporarily for security reasons. They want to carry out...

Oral Answers to Questions — International Development: Mali (30 January 2013)

Lynne Featherstone: I appreciate that desire, but it is not possible to do everything at the G8 that everyone would wish us to do. However, the hon. Gentleman is right. The only solution in the end is a long-term, measured and intelligent political solution.