Written questions by Morton.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent estimate has he made of the number of displaced Palestinians in (a) Türkiye, (b) Syria and (c) Jordan; and what steps he is taking to provide support to these countries.

The Government has been clear that civilians in Gaza must be protected, and that Palestinians should not be forced to relocate from Gaza to third countries. Jordan hosts over 3.5 million refugees from regional conflicts, including 2.3 million Palestinian refugees registered with United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in Jordan. UNRWA estimate that there are 438,000 Palestinian refugees in Syria. The Government of Türkiye reported 23,569 Palestinian refugees in Türkiye in December 2024. The UK contributed £41 million to UNRWA Financial Year 2024/25, supporting delivery of UNRWA's vital work ensuring Palestinians have access to humanitarian assistance across the region. We continue to call on all parties in Gaza to protect civilians and urge the Government of Israel to enable life-saving aid to enter Gaza at scale, and to enable the seriously ill and wounded to leave Gaza for medical care.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the oral contribution of the Rt Hon Member for Aldridge-Brownhill of 2 July 2025 on West Bank: Forced Displacement, Official Report, column 770, if he will publish the bilateral humanitarian aid spend allocation to the Occupied Palestinian Territories in the 2025-26 financial year.

On 28 April, the UK announced a package of support for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including £101 million for humanitarian aid, support for Palestinian economic development and strengthening Palestinian Authority governance and reform. As part of this package, on 21 May the Minister for Development announced a £4 million contribution to the British Red Cross to deliver humanitarian relief in Gaza through their partner, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society. Once the remainder of the funding has been allocated, we will publish the information.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Policy paper entitled UK and Palestinian strategic cooperation: memorandum of understanding’ published on 28 April 2025, what steps he is taking to discuss (a) freedom of expression, (b) media freedom and (c) civil liberties with the Palestinian Authority.

The UK supports the Palestinian Authority's (PA) commitment to delivering its ambitious and necessary 'National Program for Development and Reform'. As part of the UK-PA Memorandum of Understanding (UK-PA MoU), the PA underlined the importance of democratic renewal, and committed to advancing this through widening freedom of expression, media freedom and civil liberties. As part of the UK-PA MoU, the PA committed to delivering its reforms as a matter of priority, and we continue to engage the PA on the delivery of these reforms.

With reference to the Spending Review 2025 published on 11 June 2025, how much of the £750 million per year for maintaining and improving bus service will be allocated to the West Midlands.

The Government reaffirmed its commitment to investing in bus services long-term in the Spending Review by confirming additional funding from 2026/27 to maintain and improve bus services, and extend the £3 bus fare cap by over a year until March 2027. Allocations for individual LTAs for 26/27 onwards will be confirmed in due course.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to his Department's news story entitled Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office summons Georgian Chargé d'Affaires, published on 30 June 2025, what response his Department has received from the Government of Georgia following his summoning of their Charge d'Affaires.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has not received any formal response from the Georgian Dream Government to its summons of the Georgian Chargé d'Affaires on 30 June 2025. The UK, alongside European partners, remains deeply concerned by the Georgian authorities' continued repression of civil society and political opposition, as stated in our joint statement of 11 July. We continue to urge the Georgian Dream Government to reverse repressive measures, release unjustly detained individuals, and engage in meaningful national dialogue to restore democratic norms and uphold human rights.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what budget was allocated for his Department's involvement at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development in Seville and how many (a) officials,(b) ministers and (c) special advisers attended.

The Minister of State for International Development, Latin America and Caribbean, led the UK's delegation at the Fourth Financing for Development Conference (FfD4) in Seville. Alongside the Minister, fourteen Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) officials supported and represented the UK at a range of events, including two UK-led initiatives, across the four days of the conference. No Special Advisors attended. The UK contributed £250,000 to the United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs FfD4 Fund to support participation from accredited civil society organisations and academia primarily from developing countries.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 3 July 2025 to Question 63636 on BBC World Service, which projects were not settled in the Spending Review and will be determined under separate consideration in the autumn.

We now have our departmental allocation in the Spending Review. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Official Development Assistance (ODA) and non-ODA allocations and the impact on programmes, including the BBC World Service, are being worked through between now and the autumn.The World Service's Grant-in-Aid funding for the next three years will be decided through this process.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Office of Rail and Road’s decision to reject the open access application from Wrexham, Shropshire & Midlands Railway (WSMR) on passengers.

The Department remains committed to Open Access where it provides genuine benefits for passengers through improved connectivity and does not disproportionately impact taxpayers or performance of the network. That is why we supported WSMR’s application, acknowledging the benefits that it would provide to passengers in the communities served while noting potential capacity constraints on the West Coast Main Line. Access to the railway network, however, is a decision for the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) in its capacity as independent regulator, and it is only right that ORR considers capacity and impacts to passengers across the network more broadly as key parts of its assessments. In this instance, ORR deemed that WSMR’s proposed services could not practicably be introduced due to lack of capacity on the West Coast Main Line.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his new development financing strategy will prioritise the most vulnerable countries.

Reducing poverty in the world's poorest, most fragile and unstable environments remains central to our Official Development Assistance (ODA). The UK will remain a leading humanitarian actor, in a world where 300 million people require humanitarian assistance. That includes our continued bilateral support to Ukraine, Gaza, and Sudan.Reducing the overall size of our ODA budget will have an impact on the scale and shape of the work we do. We need to focus on greater impact, ensuring every pound delivers for the UK taxpayer and the people we support. We will sharpen our focus on three priorities that align with the needs of our partners, UK interests, and where we can drive real change: humanitarian, health, and climate and nature, underpinned by economic development.We expect to publish the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office final 2025/26 ODA programme allocations in the Annual Report & Accounts on the 21 July. Over the coming months, we will work through detailed decisions on how the ODA budget will be used, informed by internal and external consultation and impact assessments, ahead of publishing indicative multi-year allocations in the autumn.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to his letter to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee of 16 June 2025, how the £200 million uplift in non-ODA spending in 2025-26 will be allocated across the priorities he identifies.

The £200 million non-Official Development Assistance (ODA) spending uplift is from 2026/27 onwards as was agreed in the latest Spending Review. There is no £200 million uplift in 2025/26. Decisions on the allocation of non-ODA programme will be agreed during the multi-year allocations process, expected to conclude in the Autumn.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department will take steps to support (a) the freedom of expression and (b) civil society in Georgia.

I remain deeply concerned by the Georgian Dream government's increasing repression of opposition voices, civil society, and independent media. On 11 July in coordination with European partners, the Foreign Secretary condemned politically motivated detentions of opposition politicians. I have repeatedly called out repressive legislation targeting Civil society and peaceful protesters. We have downgraded our bilateral cooperation and are considering all other options available to us. We urge Georgian Dream to reverse course and engage in inclusive national dialogue with all stakeholders in Georgia's future.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to his letter to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, dated 16 June 2025, what changes he plans to make in the context of his comments on (a) working as an investor rather than only a donor and (b) moving from service delivery to system support.

We have been clear that we must transform what development means to respond to the global context. For too long it has been the Global North telling the Global South how to work - we will work in partnership, not paternalism.When moving from donor to investor, we will partner with countries to unlock growth, jobs and trade through innovative finance and private sector investment - scaling up our instruments and public-private partnership to channel greater investment. And when moving from service delivery to system support, we will prioritise helping countries build their own education, health, and economic systems so they can thrive without aid, including by expanding the way that UK expertise works alongside countries. We must modernise our approach, make choices and focus on greater impact - ensuring every pound delivers for the UK taxpayer and the people we support.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to his letter to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, dated 16 June 2025, what multilateral organisations he plans to prioritise.

We will prioritise multilaterals in the Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget, while driving reform of the multilateral system to strengthen its most important parts - humanitarian, health, climate, and the global financial system - to help lower-income countries sustain their progress and become self-sufficient.We will support the most effective multilateral organisations, including Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (as demonstrated by our recent commitment of £1.25 billion between 2026 and 2030), the Global Fund, and the World Bank's International Development Association.We will publish our support to some multilateral organisations throughout the year as commitments are made and report on all ODA spending in the Statistics on International Development publication.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department plans to provide transitional funding to help prevent the closure of surveillance laboratories.

The UK recognises the role that surveillance laboratories play in early detection and response to infectious disease threats. We are currently working through detailed decisions on how the Official Development Assistance budget will be used in future years, informed by internal and external consultation and impact assessments, ahead of publishing indicative multi-year allocations in the autumn.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the merits of decision to close the Fleming Fund.

To fund a necessary increase in defence spending, the Government has taken the decision to reduce our Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget to 0.3% of Gross National Income (GNI) by 2027. This reflects the world we live in and the threats our country faces and to maintain economic stability - the foundation of this Government's Plan for Change.Tackling Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) is a top priority for the UK Government and is vital also for protecting our NHS. The UK played a key role in securing an action-oriented Political Declaration from the UN High Level Meeting on AMR last September, including on the importance of strengthening multisectoral surveillance.The UK is working with our partners to drive robust implementation of the commitments from the Political Declaration. Regarding specific UK funding in light of the upcoming conclusion of the work of the Fleming Fund in its current form we are currently working through detailed decisions on how the Official Development Assistance budget will be used in future years, informed by internal and external consultation and impact assessments, ahead of publishing indicative multi-year allocations in the autumn.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the UK’s contribution to the Pandemic Fund.

The UK has committed £25 million to the Pandemic Fund. We remain committed to building pandemic prevention, preparedness and response capacity and capability in developing countries, including through our other multilateral investments and diplomatic engagement.We are currently working through detailed decisions on how the Official Development Assistance budget will be used in future years, informed by internal and external consultation and impact assessments, ahead of publishing indicative multi-year allocations in the autumn.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what his expected outcomes are of the UK-Kenya strategic partnership on (a) trade and (b) economic cooperation.

The new Kenya-UK Strategic Partnership 2025-2030 provides a comprehensive framework to progress our shared objectives, strengthening the bilateral relationship and delivering growth for the UK and Kenya. This new partnership will potentially deliver £1 billion through exports, engineering jobs and defence manufacturing jobs in Northampton and County Durham. We have also agreed with Kenya to explore a new Digital Trading Agreement, and to aim to double trade by 2030 in areas including financial services, digital and technology, and defence and security. The Partnership has also seen Lloyd's of London enter the Nairobi insurance market, which will be a gateway to the East Africa Market, valued up to £0.5 billion (Kshs.88billion).

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he plans to take to support Kenya’s security priorities as part of the newly announced strategic partnership.

The Strategic Partnership will strengthen our joint response to regional terrorism, illicit finance, cyber attacks and organised crime, to keep Kenyans and British Nationals safe. This is underpinned by the UK-Kenya Security Compact which was also signed during the recent Presidential visit to the UK. The renewed Compact is designed to address both traditional and emerging security threats. Priorities include tackling risks from digital spaces and new technologies, reducing irregular migration, and countering illicit finance. The partnership will continue to build on its strong foundation, ensuring that previous achievements are sustained and that new challenges are met with a coordinated, forward-looking approach.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps is he taking to help tackle (a) sexual and (b) gender-based violence in Sudan.

I refer the Rt Hon. member to her previous question, 53517, to which our response outlined the UK's commitment to tackling gender-based violence in Sudan, and Ministerial engagement on the issue. Furthermore, through the Sudan Free of Female Genital Mutiliation programme, UK funding supports work on protection, prevention and care services for survivors of sexual violence. The UK funded Women's Integrated Sexual Health programme, has provided sexual and reproductive services to women, girls, men as well as persons living with disabilities, with UK aid delivered in camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and other contexts. We have also enhanced our atrocity risk monitoring, including monitoring of conflict-related sexual violence and are working with UN and non-governmental organisation partners to provide safe spaces, clinical treatment, dignity kits and psycho-social services for survivors.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the FCDO Kenya-UK Strategic Partnership: Joint Statement, published on 2 July 2025, what budget has been allocated for the Nairobi Railway City project; in which financial years the cost will be incurred; and whether this will be current or capital expenditure.

The Nairobi Railway City Project is a Government of Kenya funded project. The UK government has allocated £2 million to provide Kenya with technical assistance to help it structure, phase, manage and deliver the series of infrastructure projects that will make up the 438-acre Nairobi Railway City Project. The first of these projects involves the construction of a new Central Railway Station and public realm. For this first project on top of our technical assistance the Government of Kenya is considering raising financing to construct the station with the support of potentially £150 million in funding through UK Export Finance (UKEF), the UK's Export Credit Agency. As this project is in its early stages, the financial years in which the costs will be incurred, and the type of expenditure are to be yet confirmed.