Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of planned reductions in spending on official development assistance on funding for Voluntary Service Overseas.

The Prime Minister has set out a new strategic vision for government spending on defence and security, and Official Development Assistance (ODA). Decisions on how the ODA budget will be used are being worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review, based on various factors including impact assessments, and value for money.

Our approach balances the UK's proud tradition of supporting the world's most vulnerable with our fundamental responsibility to protect British interests in an increasingly unstable world.