Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of her Department's spending in Syria is spent in areas held by the Government or forces loyal to the Assad regime.

DFID’s focus in Syria is on helping those most acutely in need and we have extensive controls in place to ensure that UK aid does not benefit the Assad regime. In 2017/2018, our partners operating from Damascus delivered 31% of DFID’s spending in Syria. The majority of that aid was delivered to those most in need living in regime-held areas. A small proportion was also delivered from Damascus to hard-to-reach and besieged areas held by the opposition.