Written questions by Gill.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he plans to develop an Africa strategy.

The Foreign Secretary launched a five-month consultation to inform the UK's new approach to the African continent during his visit to Nigeria and South Africa in November 2024. This follows the manifesto commitment to develop a fundamentally transformed partnership that engages with African countries as equals, promotes our economic growth and supports migration priorities. In recent weeks, the Foreign Secretary and the Minister for Africa met with African Ambassadors, High Commissioners, civil society, and African experts to discuss opportunities for building a long-term mutually beneficial UK relationship with African countries.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to improve development cooperation within the Commonwealth.

The UK is collaborating on development across the Commonwealth to build societal, democratic, environmental, and economic resilience. Since 2016, the UK, with partners, has supported the Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub to help mobilise over $310 million (£249 million) of finance for small island members - as well as tackle barriers to accessing essential climate finance. Last year, the UK and other members launched the Commonwealth Plan of Action on Investment aimed at building economic resilience in small and vulnerable members. A few Commonwealth countries, including the UK, fund Commonwealth Scholarships which support developing countries to realise Sustainable Development Goals.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the pause in USAID spending on (a) jointly-funded UK-US programmes and (b) multilateral (i) organisations and (ii) initiatives.

The UK notes the US decision to pause new obligations of foreign aid funding for 3 months, pending a review and this is a matter for the US. Progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals requires collective action, and the UK will continue to work with all international partners, including the US, toward that vision. The UK's commitment to supporting both humanitarian aid and development across the world remains steadfast.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what (a) countries and (b) regions he is prioritising for the allocation of official development assistance.

Our mission is to build partnerships to help create a world free from poverty on a liveable planet. The FCDO's development spending will be used to achieve better development outcomes as part of a coherent international approach, with a strong focus on poverty reduction and accelerating progress on the Sustainable Development Goals.The FCDO's Official Development Assistance (ODA) programme allocations for 2024/25 were published on 6 February. We are prioritising predictability and stability after years of turbulence. Ministers will consider ODA allocations for 2025/26 over the coming months and we will publish them in the Annual Report & Accounts in summer 2025. The second phase of the Spending Review, concluding in late spring 2025, will set departmental ODA budgets for future years.

Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to help promote the development of AI infrastructure including (a) data centres and (b) high-performance computing facilities to support the growth of AI technologies.

The government recognises the critical role of AI and data centre infrastructure as the backbone of the AI ecosystem and the importance of supporting its growth.The AI Opportunities Action Plan, which was developed by Matt Clifford, sets out how the UK can lay the foundations for AI growth, by building the cutting-edge compute infrastructure needed to lead in AI development and deployment.New purpose-built, modern AI data centres will be built in the newly announced AI Growth Zones. The Growth Zones will help secure the UK’s position as a global leader in AI innovation and will deliver substantial regional and national benefits.

Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to help promote the creation of AI infrastructure including (a) data centres and (b) high-performance computing to support the growth of AI technologies in (i) Birmingham and (ii) the West Midlands.

The government recognises the critical role of AI infrastructure in supporting advanced AI technologies. The AI Opportunities Action Plan outlines how the UK can build the cutting-edge compute infrastructure needed to lead in AI development and deployment, securing long-term economic growth and staying at the forefront of AI innovation.We are ramping up compute capacity to deliver game-changing innovation for businesses, public services, and to drive growth across the whole of the UK. We will partner with devolved administrations, regional and local authorities to establish AI Growth Zones, ensuring substantial regional and national benefits, such as upskilling and employment opportunities, are felt across the country.

Whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of updating the national mandatory standard for the (a) collection and (b) analysis of ethnicity to include (i) Jewish, (ii) Sikh and (iii) other options.

The merits of including Jewish or Sikh as an option when recording ethnicity in National Health Service data, and other issues relating to how the NHS records information on protected characteristics, are being considered by the Unified Information Standard for Protected Characteristics programme. This programme will help inform a view on next steps.Information is not held centrally on the number of NHS services which allow patients to identify as Jewish or Sikh under ethnicity questions, or to record Judaism or Sikhism as their religion. There are SNOMED CT codes, the terminology used for recording patient information consistently across the NHS, for Judaism and Sikhism under religion.

How many NHS services allow patients to identify as (a) Sikh under ethnicity questions and (b) Sikhism as their religion.

The merits of including Jewish or Sikh as an option when recording ethnicity in National Health Service data, and other issues relating to how the NHS records information on protected characteristics, are being considered by the Unified Information Standard for Protected Characteristics programme. This programme will help inform a view on next steps.Information is not held centrally on the number of NHS services which allow patients to identify as Jewish or Sikh under ethnicity questions, or to record Judaism or Sikhism as their religion. There are SNOMED CT codes, the terminology used for recording patient information consistently across the NHS, for Judaism and Sikhism under religion.

How many NHS services allow patients to identify as (a) Jewish under ethnicity questions and (b) Judaism as their religion.

The merits of including Jewish or Sikh as an option when recording ethnicity in National Health Service data, and other issues relating to how the NHS records information on protected characteristics, are being considered by the Unified Information Standard for Protected Characteristics programme. This programme will help inform a view on next steps.Information is not held centrally on the number of NHS services which allow patients to identify as Jewish or Sikh under ethnicity questions, or to record Judaism or Sikhism as their religion. There are SNOMED CT codes, the terminology used for recording patient information consistently across the NHS, for Judaism and Sikhism under religion.

What assessment he has made of the potential merits of implementing recommendation 6 of the NHS Race & Health Observatory's report entitled Review of NHS health communications with (and for) the Jewish community, published in December 2024.

The merits of including Jewish or Sikh as an option when recording ethnicity in National Health Service data, and other issues relating to how the NHS records information on protected characteristics, are being considered by the Unified Information Standard for Protected Characteristics programme. This programme will help inform a view on next steps.Information is not held centrally on the number of NHS services which allow patients to identify as Jewish or Sikh under ethnicity questions, or to record Judaism or Sikhism as their religion. There are SNOMED CT codes, the terminology used for recording patient information consistently across the NHS, for Judaism and Sikhism under religion.

Whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of requiring electric bike users to (a) have a number plate and (b) be insured.

The Government has no intention of requiring cyclists, including those who ride Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycles, to display number plates or to have insurance. This would require a national registration scheme for all cycles which would be complex and expensive to design and administer. It would also be likely to lead to a significant reduction in the number of people cycling, which would have negative health and environmental consequences. The Government believes that insurance for cycling should remain a matter of personal choice. Cyclists who are not insured are liable for the consequences of their actions should these result in injury or damages to others.

What assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the use of artificial intelligence in NHS diagnostics.

The deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) in the National Health Service is still at a relatively early stage, with the majority of AI technologies, including diagnostic tools, being deployed in a research capacity. To address this, the Department is carrying out work to assess the barriers of effective adoption and improve the way AI tools are deployed across the NHS. The NHS AI Lab’s Ethics Initiative invests in research and practical interventions that could strengthen the ethical adoption of AI within health and care and addresses risks and concerns over its use.Additionally, the Department has supported the launch of regulatory projects such as the AI and Digital Regulation Service (AIDRS) and the AI Airlock. The AIDRS, in partnership with healthcare regulators, gives innovators and health and care providers a one-stop-shop for support, information, and guidance on the regulation and evaluation of AI technologies. The AI Airlock is a Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency-led initiative, supported by the NHS AI Lab, designed to create a controlled testing environment where developers can rigorously validate AI tools in real-world clinical settings before full-scale deployment, ensuring they meet NHS standards for safety, efficacy, and integration into existing healthcare workflows.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will collect data on family remittances from the UK.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office does not collect or report this data on the flow of family remittances out of the UK. The best source is the World Bank Group's remittance data which captures flows through formal banking systems and is published annually.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made recent representations to the authorities in Afghanistan on the treatment of women and girls in that country.

We repeatedly condemn the Taliban's draconian restrictions on women and girls' rights, both bilaterally and internationally. The UK Mission to Afghanistan in Doha continues to press Taliban acting ministers and Afghan officials on their grotesque human rights abuses. UK officials most recently visited Kabul in January 2025 to raise human rights issues with senior members of the Taliban, including their policies which limit women and girls' freedoms.While in New York in January I publicly demonstrated my support for Afghan women and girls at the UN, ahead of the International Day of Education on 24 January.

Whether it is her policy to allow Household Support Fund allocations to be used by local authorities to purchase (a) slow cookers and (b) kettles.

In England, the Household Support Fund is a scheme providing discretionary support to those most in need towards the cost of essentials, such as food, energy and water and to support with essentials linked to these for example, energy efficient items which reduce bills and the purchase of equipment such as slow cookers. Local Authorities have the discretion to design their own local schemes within the parameters of the guidance and grant determination that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have set out for the fund. This is because they have the ties and the knowledge to best determine how support should be provided in their local communities.

Innovation and Technology, with reference to his Department's press release of 21 January 2025 entitled Shake up of tech and AI usage across NHS and other public services to deliver plan for change, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of making these tools available to (a) parliamentary staff, (b) the public sector and (c) more widely.

The Government is excited about the opportunity presented to adopt AI for the public good, including for parliamentary staff and the public sector at large. In service of this, the Government has introduced the GDS Blueprint which outlined the GovAI toolkit. This is a set of productivity tools designed to enhance civil service operations and delivery of ministerial priorities. Developed by the Incubator for AI within the Government Digital Service, these tools are rapidly prototyped and deployed across the public sector once productivity benefits have been established.

Innovation and Technology, whether the digital driving licence will be accepted as a valid form of photo ID.

While the legal purpose of the driving licence is to convey driving entitlement, they are already commonly accepted as proof of age or identity. The Department for Science and Technology’s (DSIT) ambition is that, in time, the digital driving licence will be usable in the same way as its physical counterparts. In order to achieve this, and as part of our work to deliver a UK digital driving licence, we will be exploring all legal, regulatory, and technical implications.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will take steps to reduce transfer fees on family remittances.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) co-convene, with Save the Children, a UK-based Remittances Working Group which works with key partners including remittance service providers, diaspora communities, NGOs, and other UK government departments to seek solutions that can drive down costs associated with sending and receiving remittances. The FCDO also supports a remittances project trialling new ways to reduce remittance transfer fees for individuals, working with East African diaspora members in the UK who are sending money back to Kenya.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to help ensure the long-term stability of (a) NGOs and (b) aid agencies that (i) provide humanitarian support and (ii) have other operations in Afghanistan.

The UK is a strong supporter of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and aid agencies in Afghanistan. We are planning £161 million in aid to Afghanistan this financial year (2024-25), much of which supports NGOs to deliver lifesaving humanitarian aid for women, girls and other marginalised people. UK officials regularly lobby the Taliban on the vital role of NGOs and risk of further restrictions on their activities. The UK underlined the importance of the humanitarian response in a G7+ senior officials' joint statement on 20 December, and in a statement by UN Security Council members on 27 December.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to deliver humanitarian aid to Sudan.

The UK continues to provide humanitarian assistance to support people in Sudan and those who have fled the country. The UK has recently doubled its Official Development Assistance (ODA) this year in response to the conflict in Sudan to £226.5 million - the vast majority of which is spent on vital humanitarian aid including support for the regional refugee crisis. This funding includes support to key UN agencies such as the World Food Programme (WFP) and UNICEF which are providing life-saving food assistance in Sudan. We are also one of the largest donors to the UN-led Sudan Humanitarian Fund (SHF) which delivers life-saving multi-sectoral support to communities across Sudan and is now piloting support to the Emergency Response Rooms (ERRs). The UK also continues to support the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), including their work on emergency preparedness and response, protection of civilians, and providing life-saving healthcare across Sudan.