Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will make it her policy to support the adoption of a target to co-operate globally to reduce substantially international tax evasion and avoidance in the Open Working Group negotiations on the Sustainable Development Goals.

As we have already made clear, the UK supports a target to cooperate globally to reduce substantially international tax evasion and avoidance. This language is included in the most recent draft goals and targets list released by the co-chairs of the Open Working Group (OWG) on 2 June.

At last year's Lough Erne G8 summit, leaders agreed to introduce a new international standard of automatic exchange of information to help countries combat tax evasion. We are working in the G20 to develop a roadmap that identifies obstacles to developing country participation in this new global standard. We are also working in the G20 to identify Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) issues most relevant to developing countries and to recommend actions to address them.

The final targets in the post-2015 development framework will however be subject to international negotiations in the United Nations, in which the UK will play an active role.