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Written Question
Africa: Overseas Aid
Monday 29th June 2020

Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether she has suspended any UK Official Development Assistance bilateral funding programmes in (a) Zimbabwe, (b) Zambia and (c) Tanzania since 1 March 2020; and what the value and purposes of those programmes was.

Answered by James Duddridge

No UK Official Development Assistance bilateral programmes have been suspended since 1 March 2020 in Zimbabwe, Zambia or Tanzania.


Written Question
Commonwealth Development Corporation
Monday 29th June 2020

Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what arrangements have been made to amend the (a) shareholding in, (b) ministerial oversight of and (c) parliamentary scrutiny of the Commonwealth Development Corporation since the Prime Minister's announcement on 16 June 2020; when those arrangements will come into force; and whether legislative change will be required.

Answered by James Duddridge

The PM has launched a government-wide review of the UK’s foreign, defence, security and development policy. As the UK’s Development Finance institution, wholly owned by the Crown, CDC will be part and parcel of this integrated review. The Crown’s shareholding in CDC is not expected to change. Ministerial oversight of CDC will continue to be exercised by the Secretary of State for International Development until September, at which time Ministerial oversight of CDC will pass to the Foreign Secretary as the Secretary of State responsible for the new Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. There will continue to be parliamentary scrutiny of CDC. It is not anticipated that the creation of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office will require any legislative changes in relation to CDC.


Written Question
Africa: Overseas Aid
Monday 29th June 2020

Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many UK programmes eligible for official development assistance support have been suspended in Africa since 1 March 2020.

Answered by James Duddridge

One DFID programme in Africa has been suspended since 1 March 2020. This is the ‘Promoting Learning in Agribusiness using New Technology Programme’ in Nigeria. More information about this programme can be found on the DFID DevTracker website https://devtracker.dfid.gov.uk/projects/GB-GOV-1-300779


Written Question
Overseas Aid
Thursday 4th June 2020

Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether (a) she or (b) the Home Secretary will have final sign off on spending proposed by the Home Office Director of Official Development Assistance.

Answered by Wendy Morton

Official Development Assistance is subject to the same rules as all public expenditure. In line with HMT’s Managing Public Money guidance, the Home Secretary and her accounting officer hold financial responsibility and accountability to Parliament and UK taxpayers for their ODA spend.


Written Question
Government Departments: Overseas Aid
Thursday 4th June 2020

Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, which Government Departments employ (a) a Head of, (b) a Director of or (c) a Director-General of Official Development Assistance; and what the (i) salary ranges and (ii) responsibilities of these positions were when the initial appointments were made.

Answered by Wendy Morton

In addition to those in the Department for International Development, there are several roles across Government for which oversight of Official Development Assistance (ODA) is part of responsibilities. These are important roles to ensure government departments are able to spend ODA as effectively as possible; some are listed here.

HM Treasury, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), and Home Office employ Heads of ODA at Grade 7 with salary ranges of £47,044 - £64,498. Responsibilities include international development policy; setting, overseeing and managing risks around UK ODA; and ensuring ODA is effectively spent and aligned with wider foreign policy objectives.

FCO’s Strategic Programmes Coordinator (salary range £90,000 - £94,999) leads on ODA policy for the FCO, and the Head of Portfolio Management Office (salary range £70,000 - £117,800) leads on ensuring all ODA programmes deliver value for money.

The Office for National Statistics employ a Head of International Development at Grade 6 (salary range £57,721 to £71,259) responsible for designing and managing ODA projects using ONS expertise.

The Department for International Trade and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) employ Deputy Directors of Development or ODA with responsibility for the development of ODA policy and strategy, and the governance and delivery of ODA spend.

The Departments for Health and Social Care and Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy employ Deputy Directors whose roles include responsibility for managing their departments’ main ODA spending programmes. The salary range of these Deputy Director roles is £68,000 to £117,800.

The Home Office has recently advertised for a Director of ODA (salary range £92,000 - £110,000), and Defra is currently recruiting for an additional Deputy Director who will be focused on Defra-wide ODA management.


Written Question
CDC: Myanmar
Tuesday 2nd June 2020

Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what the business activities are of (a) Shan Orchard, (b) Frontiir Co. Ltd, (c) Solar Home Pte Ltd, (d) MC Easy Microfinance Co. Ltd, (e) Alliance for Microfinance in Myanmar Ltd, (f) Advans Myanmar and (g) Irrawaddy Green Tower Project as invested in by CDC Group; and whether (i) the Government of Myanmar and (ii) local state authorities have shareholdings in each business.

Answered by James Duddridge

The business activities of these investments are:

Business name

Business activities

Shan Orchard

An agri-business focussed on the production of avocados

Frontiir Co. Ltd

An internet service provider

Solar Home Pte Ltd

A provider of pay-as-you-go solar home systems.

MC Easy Microfinance Co. Ltd

A microfinance institution

Alliance for Microfinance in Myanmar Ltd

A microfinance institution

Advans Myanmar

A microfinance institution

Irrawaddy Green Tower

An infrastructure provider of telecommunications towers

Neither the Government of Myanmar or local state authorities are on the shareholder lists of any of the above businesses.


Written Question
CDC: Myanmar
Tuesday 2nd June 2020

Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what the total invested by the Commonwealth Development Corporation in (a) Shan Orchard, (b) Frontiir Co. Ltd, (c) Solar Home Pte Ltd, (d) MC Easy Microfinance Co. Ltd, (e) Alliance for Microfinance in Myanmar Ltd, (f) Advans Myanmar and (g) Irrawaddy Green Tower Project in Myanmar was in each of the last five years.

Answered by James Duddridge

As stated in Written Question 46671, CDC has invested a total of $78,795,576 into the above companies over the last five years (2015-19). A $50,000,000 direct debt investment was made in Irrawaddy Green Tower Project in 2016. A $20,000,000 direct equity investment was made in Frontiir Co. Ltd in 2019. The remainder has been invested through 4 investment funds. These are Anthem Asia Myanmar SME Venture Fund, Insitor Impact Asia Fund Private Ltd, Myanmar Opportunities Fund II and Advans S.A. These funds have made six investments over the last five years in Shan Orchard, Solar Home Pte Ltd, MC Easy Microfinance Co. Ltd, Alliance for Microfinance in Myanmar Ltd, Advans Myanmar and Frontiir Co Ltd.

CDC discloses on its website the amount it invests into companies, projects and investment funds. The amount invested by those funds into underlying investments is not disclosed as this information is commercially sensitive


Written Question
CDC: Myanmar
Tuesday 2nd June 2020

Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will publish the (a) Environmental and Social Due Diligence and (b) assessment against the Commonwealth Development Corporation Code of Responsible Investing for the investments in companies (a) Shan Orchard, (b) Frontiir Co. Ltd, (c) Solar Home Pte Ltd, (d) MC Easy Microfinance Co. Ltd, (e) Alliance for Microfinance in Myanmar Ltd, (f) Advans Myanmar and (g) Irrawaddy Green Tower Project in Myanmar.

Answered by James Duddridge

CDC’s rigorous due diligence process involves assessing a wide range of Environmental and Social, as well as Business Integrity risks and involves the production of multiple separate documents and reports. Ordinarily, CDC does not publish the suite of documents related to the due diligence it undertakes in the course of making investments because these documents contain commercially confidential or sensitive information about the business being reviewed.

On that basis, DFID does not intend to publish the documents related to the due diligence of investments listed above.

CDC does publish an overview of expected development impact, including key elements related to Environmental and Social issues, for new investments into companies and funds. The next update of CDC’s database will be available from July when CDC publishes its Annual Review.


Written Question
Eritrea: Humanitarian Aid
Wednesday 27th May 2020

Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of the (a) covid-19 pandemic and (b) ongoing locust infestation in the Horn of Africa on the humanitarian situation in Eritrea.

Answered by James Duddridge

We are deeply concerned about COVID-19 and the desert locust outbreak compounding high humanitarian need already caused by residual effects of war and climate change induced disasters in Eritrea. Limited health infrastructure, limited diagnostic capacity, low levels of sanitation coverage and high pre-existing levels of malnutrition and morbidity, raise the Eritrean population’s vulnerability. The locust outbreak is destroying crops, livelihoods and essential food supplies. The impact of COVID-19 on domestic market supply chains and household food and income sources could also be significant.

Existing humanitarian and development programmes in Eritrea are being adapted to address current food security challenges. The UK has funded life-saving activity in Eritrea for several years, including providing £4 million to UNICEF in 2019-20 to help treat malnutrition in under-fives and provide access to safe hygiene and sanitation services. The UK has provided £7 million to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Regional Emergency Appeal for the locust outbreak, which includes Eritrea. With the UK’s support, the FAO is spraying pesticides on the ground and by air to prevent further damage to crops and livelihoods.


Written Question
Eritrea: Asylum
Wednesday 27th May 2020

Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)

Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment her Department has made of the humanitarian situation of (a) Eritrean asylum seekers and (b) unaccompanied children who are being turned away from the Ethiopian border.

Answered by James Duddridge

Recent changes in the Government of Ethiopia’s (GoE) asylum policies, alongside the impact of COVID-19, are affecting the ability of Eritreans to acquire refugee status in Ethiopia. The policy changes have seen a reduction in the numbers of Eritreans registering with the GoE and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Humanitarian agencies are now concerned that many Eritreans, including unaccompanied children, arrive in Ethiopia but do not complete the formal registration processes that facilitate access to lifesaving protection and other forms of assistance. This makes it challenging to assess their humanitarian needs.

We are not aware that unaccompanied children are being turned away at the Ethiopian border. However, in an effort to limit transmission of COVID-19 GoE asylum personnel are no longer deployed at border crossings, which complicates registration processes for newly arrived asylum seekers. Despite these complications we are encouraged that recent COVID-19 planning documents shared by the GoE stress Ethiopia’s commitment to uphold the right to asylum.

In Ethiopia, the UK has allocated £22.2 million to COVID-19 activities with urgent support now reaching refugees and other communities across the country. Ongoing UK funded programmes are also being adapted to meet COVID-19 needs, which refugees are also benefitting from.