Asked by: Bob Seely (Conservative - Isle of Wight)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much funding her Department has allocated to programmes overseas that is not part of Official Development Assistance in each of the last three years; and how much such funding her Department plans to allocate in each of the next two years.
Answered by Alistair Burt
In line with HMT allocations, the funding the Department for International Development has allocated to programmes that are not part of Official Development Assistance is as follows:
2015/16 - £20.9m
2016/17 - £14.4m
2017/18 - £33.9m
The Department are forecasting to spend £17m in 2018/19. The 2019/20 allocation will be decided through our annual planning cycle in 2019 and all future allocations will be subject to the outcome of the Spending Review in 2019.
Asked by: Bob Seely (Conservative - Isle of Wight)
Question to the Department for International Development:
What steps she is taking to promote value for money in aid.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
In my department every project is rigorously appraised before approval to ensure value for money. All projects are also measured against a robust monitoring framework to ensure they remain cost effective. DFID supports other aid spending departments, who are responsible for ensuring value for money of their aid spend.
Asked by: Bob Seely (Conservative - Isle of Wight)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will make representations to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development on the relaxation of international aid rules to permit countries to use their discretion in allocating aid funding to support relief efforts in other countries affected by natural disasters.
Answered by Rory Stewart
The Secretary of State for International Development wrote to the Chair of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) on 14 September to request that the DAC urgently develop options to ensure the aid rules reflect today’s needs, giving certainty to donors that aid to those impacted by Hurricane Irma can be considered official aid. This would take into account the scale of devastation and vulnerabilities of small island states. We will work with international partners to ensure the rules remain relevant.