Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has taken steps to determine the reasons for his Department being ranked 40 of the 45 major aid donors in the Aid Transparency Index, published on 20 June 2018 by Publish What You Fund; and if he will make a statement.

As a major donor, the FCO has been included in the Aid Transparency Index since 2013. We were disappointed to receive a poor rating this year and are undertaking a review of FCO performance. In discussion with Publish What you Fund, and other Whitehall Departments, we have identified a number of areas for improvement including around the timeliness of publications and our programme documentation.