Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of the long-term economic effect of the International Citizen Service projects on communities in developing countries.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The most recent evaluation of the International Citizen Service (ICS) programme was conducted in October 2017 and found that, on economic development, ICS entrepreneurship projects helped new entrepreneurs to start up businesses, and helped established entrepreneurs to build links with new markets and develop skills, such as record keeping.
Entrepreneurship projects are fully consistent with the priorities set out in DFID’s Economic Development Strategy, published in January 2017.
DFID and VSO, who deliver ICS, are currently undertaking research on the long-term economic benefits, to be completed over the next 18 months.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of the humanitarian situation in Yemen; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
The United Nations report that 21.2 million people in Yemen require some kind of humanitarian assistance to meet their basic needs or protect their fundamental rights, as cited in the 2016 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP). The government uses this UN report as one if its primary data sources.
We continue to call on other donors to step up. In July 2015 the Foreign and Development Secretaries wrote to international donors to raise the profile of Yemen’s humanitarian crisis and encourage more funding to the response. In September, the Development Secretary co-hosted a meeting on Yemen’s humanitarian crisis at the UN General Assembly, at which donors (including the UK) pledged an additional £85 million.
The Co-Chairs statement from the meeting can be found here: http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/co-chairs-statement-ministerial-yemen-meeting-monday-28-september-2015
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to monitor the cost-effectiveness of its spending.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
Every DFID project is rigorously appraised before approval. During implementation each project is regularly monitored to examine whether the targeted results are on track, whether the project represents value for money and remains cost effective, and what, if any, corrective action needs to be undertaken.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the extent of the misuse of UK aid to India; and what steps her Department takes to ensure that UK aid is not misused.
Answered by Desmond Swayne
No new financial aid programmes have been approved in India since 2012.
DFID takes seriously tackling the misuse or misappropriation of UK Aid, and has a range of robust controls and measures in place to safeguard the UK taxpayers’ money.
In DFID India this includes conducting regular and rigorous fiduciary risk assessments to determine the way in which UK Aid is provided. We have put in place strong programme monitoring systems, including fraud trackers for all key projects. We conduct Fiduciary Risk Assessments (FRA) on programmes where direct financial assistance is provided to the government. All partners are subject to pre-funding due diligence checks and regular scrutiny during programme implementation.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Caerphilly)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether any (a) external contractors and (b) consultancy companies engaged by her Department have charged more than the initial price agreed for their services since May 2010.
Answered by Justine Greening
DFID's standard terms of contract with suppliers provide the ability to vary or extend funding.