The Chancellor announced a temporary six-month extension to the £20 per week uplift at the Budget on 3 March to support households affected by the economic shock of Covid-19. Universal Credit has provided a vital safety net for six million people during the pandemic, and the temporary uplift was part of a COVID support package worth a total of £407 billion in 2020-21 and 2021-22.

There have been significant positive developments in the public health situation since the uplift was first introduced. With the success of the vaccine rollout and record job vacancies, it is right that our focus is on helping people back into work.

This Government is wholly committed to supporting those on low incomes, and continues to do so through many measures, including by increasing the living wage, and by spending over £111 billion on welfare support for people of working age in 2021/22.

Universal Credit has provided a vital safety net for six million people during the pandemic, and the temporary uplift was part of a COVID support package worth a total of £407billion in 2020-21 and 2021-22. With the success of the vaccine rollout and record job vacancies, it is right that our focus is on helping people back into work. This approach is based on clear evidence about the importance of parental employment, particularly where it is full-time, in substantially reducing the risks of child poverty

We recognise that some people continue to require extra support, which is why we have introduced a £421 million Household Support Fund to help vulnerable people in England with essential household costs over the winter. The Barnett Formula will apply in the usual way, with the devolved administrations receiving almost £80 million (£41m for the Scottish Government, £25m for the Welsh Government and £14m for the NI Executive), for a total of £500 million. This new grant will run from 06 October 2021 to 31 March 2022. The funding is being made available to County Councils and Unitary Authorities in England. Newcastle City Council will receive £2,898,403.85.

In April this year we increased the value of Healthy Start Food Vouchers from £3.10 to £4.25, helping eligible low income households buy basic foods like milk, fruit and vitamins. We are also investing up to £221m in the Holiday Activities and Food programme, which has been expanded to every Local Authority across England. Participating children are benefitting from a range of support, including healthy and nutritious meals as well as fun and engaging activities covering the Easter, summer and Christmas holidays in 2021.

We are deeply concerned of reports of an alleged airstrike on a petrol station at a hospital facility on 26 March 2019. UK officials have been in contact with Save the Children, who fund the hospital, about this alleged incident and have raised this matter with the Saudi-led Coalition, who have announced an investigation.

DFID’s primary concern is the impact on beneficiaries and we have been careful to ensure that Oxfam and Save the Children’s voluntary withdrawal has not directly affected them. Although there has been a voluntary withdrawal from new UK government funding, no current DFID projects with either organisation have been stopped and are proceeding with enhanced scrutiny. For all new projects where we might otherwise have considered funding Oxfam and Save the Children, we are finding alternative partners to ensure that the poorest continue to be protected.

DFID is absolutely committed to driving up standards across the aid sector and will host an international summit on tackling sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment on 18th October.

DFID is committed to driving up standards across the aid sector and we expect every organisation that we work with to have rigorous reporting and complaints mechanisms in place to protect beneficiaries and employees alike. Following the launch of a statutory inquiry by the Charity Commission, Save the Children UK withdrew from bidding for new UK Government funding until they can meet the high standards we expect of all our partners. Existing programmes with Save the Children will continue, governed by our risk management processes. For the time being, as an enhanced level of scrutiny, the Secretary of State is approving all payments DFID makes to Save the Children.

That is the only criterion that I look at when making those decisions: no beneficiaries will be harmed in any way as a result of the decisions we take about withdrawing funding or preventing people from bidding for funding.

What assessment has the Secretary of State made of the effect of Oxfam and Save the Children withdrawing from her Department’s funding rounds on the beneficiaries of those charities?

DFID Yemen has longstanding and close working relationships with each of these four organisations, all of whom receive UK funding. Our dialogue covers all areas of relevant DFID policy, in particular our four priorities: supporting UN efforts to start political talks and return to an inclusive political process; increasing commercial imports of food, fuel and medical supplies; improving humanitarian access into and within Yemen; and strengthening the international community’s response to the crisis.

The government is committed to eliminating illiteracy so that all children are equipped to succeed in education, and in life. We welcome the ‘Read On. Get On.’ campaign and its goal to get all children reading well by 2025.

We have placed phonics at the heart of the early teaching of reading, and this is reflected in the reformed national curriculum. A large body of research evidence shows that systematic phonics is the most effective method for teaching literacy for all children. The proportion of 6-year-olds achieving the expected standards in the phonics screening check has risen from 58% to 74% between 2012 and 2014. That is equivalent to 102,000 more children on track to become confident readers. We recently announced funding for eight school-led phonics partnerships in which schools will work together to improve further the quality of phonics teaching.

In relation to early years, we have introduced ‘early years teachers’ and put in place robust standards for level 3 (A Level standard) Early Years Educator qualifications. We have allocated over £50 million for the early years pupil premium and provided an additional £10 million to voluntary organisations and schools. We know many are using the funding for literacy, communication and language development.

DFID is continuing to fund Oxfam, CARE and Save the Children through the “Yemen Humanitarian Resilience Programme”, and Save the Children through the “Improving Nutrition in Yemen Programme” with UNICEF. Through these programmes, DFID is providing food, safe water, emergency livelihoods support, shelter and protection services, and helping to treat and prevent severe acute malnutrition.

More detailed information about all DFID Yemen funded programmes can be found at: http://devtracker.dfid.gov.uk/countries/YE/.

We acknowledge that need for appropriate regulation of NGOs in Pakistan, but we remain concerned at recent attempts to close Save the Children’s Islamabad office and have raised the issue at the highest levels on a number of occasions. On 12 June, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), raised our concerns with his counterpart in Pakistan. I raised the issue with the Pakistan High Commissioner on 11 June. We are pleased that Save the Children has been able to resume operations in Pakistan and we continue to monitor developments.

DFID is working with a range of partners to respond to the unprecedented Ebola crisis in West Africa. Partners are selected according to need and their ability to deliver results.

As of 10 December, £16.2 million has been disbursed for the Kerry Town Treatment Centre and 52 beds are operational, including a 12-bed facility which treats Ebola patients from Her Majesty’s Government, international healthcare workers and Sierra Leonean healthcare professionals working in UK-sponsored facilities. Scale-up of the facility continues according to schedule. All patients who meet the eligibility criteria and who have been properly referred have been admitted to Kerry Town.

How much funding her Department provides to Save the Children annually.

I thank my hon. Friend for that contribution, but I do not quite share his position. DFID does not provide funding for political lobbying activities. Save the Children works to save children’s lives and does an extremely good job. It also fights for children’s rights. In pursuing those laudable social aims, of course it engages legitimately with politicians and political processes in the UK and internationally.