Written questions by Rhodes.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 18 June 2025 to Question 57552 on Humanitarian Aid: Older People, if he will place in the Library copies of (a) the robust indicators on Sex, Age and Disability (SAD) data disaggregation and (b) any associated guidance required of UN agencies on their application for UK funding.

The UK's Business Case and Logical Framework for our core humanitarian funding to the UN, covering the indicators on sex, age and disability disaggregated data is available for public access on the Government's Dev Tracker website. Our Humanitarian Response Funding Guidelines for NGOs are likewise available online on gov.uk.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to reflect that the (a) rights and (b) needs of older people will be reflected in the work of the High-Level Panel on Social Protection in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Settings.

The High-Level Panel on Social Protection in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Settings (FCAS) is exploring why social protection remains neglected in the places that need it most. To support this, the Panel launched a public enquiry to gather evidence, structured around seven questions, one of which focuses on equitable access. We expect evidence submitted to cover a wider range of groups, such as older people and children, as well as women and girls, and displaced populations. The Panel Secretariat has engaged widely with Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), UN agencies, academia, and civil society about the public enquiry - including a major age-focused NGO - and remains committed to ensuring an inclusive approach. The evidence enquiry closed on Sunday 13 July and the data is now being processed ahead of the second meeting of the Panel in September, where recommendations will be discussed.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what principles his Department is applying when determining its priorities in the review of Official Development Assistance.

We are modernising our approach to development, focusing on greater impact and delivering the development our partners want - ensuring every pound delivers for the UK taxpayer and the people we support.We will sharpen our focus on three priorities: humanitarian, health, and climate and nature, underpinned by economic development.We will prioritise multilaterals in the Official Development Assistance 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 transform our country development partnerships, reflecting the changing needs of our partners: as an investor rather than just a donor and from service delivery to system support, while drawing on the UK's leading expertise and working through local partners.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the specific needs of older people are met through the UK’s humanitarian responses.

Ensuring the inclusion and active participation of marginalised people, and the organisations which represent them, is a core component of the UK's approach to humanitarian and development policy and programming, and we continue to champion inclusion of marginalised people in conflict and crisis settings. This includes people who may face challenges due to their age, gender, disability or other protected characteristics.The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office 'Humanitarian Response Funding Guidelines for NGOs' set out specific requirements to ensure needs of affected populations are met, including older people. We have also attached robust indicators to our UN core funding on Sex, Age and Disability (SAD) data disaggregation to inform an inclusive approach.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Israeli counterpart on the impact of the conflict in Gaza on older people living in Gaza.

Marginalised groups such as the elderly are disproportionately impacted by long standing conflicts and recent escalations of violence in the Middle East including the war in Gaza. We continue to call for a lift on the aid blockade in Gaza, and for all parties to re-engage in ceasefire negotiations to get the hostages out and to secure a permanent end to the conflict, leading to a two-state solution and a lasting peace.