Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that decisions on changes to the Official Development Assistance budget will secure the best possible value for money for the residual spend.

On November 26 the Foreign Secretary announced new measures to ensure every penny of the UK aid budget goes as far as possible and makes a world leading difference.

As well as focusing our aid on strategic priorities in countries where the UK's development, security and economic interests align, these measures included three ways to improve the quality of aid across government. To increase coherence, FCDO decided the final allocation of ODA to other departments, a process which the Foreign Secretary concluded in January 2021. Programmes were judged against their fit with the UK's strategic priorities, evidence of impact achieved, and whether they represent value for money. Finally, the Spending Review agreed to establish a new administrative cost framework to give departments greater flexibility to design the best projects, rather than outsourcing work to expensive consultants.