Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether the Government plans to implement the recommendations of the International Development Committee report on the definition and administration of Overseas Development Assistance.

The Government agrees or partially agrees with many of the recommendations that were made within the Committee’s report. We are committed to maximising impact from the aid budget and using external scrutiny to improve how we spend aid. In some areas, the Government is already implementing the Committee’s recommendations, such as influencing the DAC to ensure that a reverse graduation mechanism is introduced as soon as possible and delivering humanitarian aid irrespective of country income status. However, a number of the recommendations run counter to established spending allocation and accountability structures, or propose changes that would make it difficult to deliver certain objectives within the UK Aid Strategy.