Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions she had with representatives from (a) NGOs, (b) aid recipients and (c) other stakeholders in advance of the decision to merge her Department with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

As with any government change like this, the announcement came first to Parliament. Since then, the DFID Permanent Secretary and Baroness Sugg, who is DFID’s NGO lead, have been meeting with NGOs regularly. The Government will continue to engage closely with interested stakeholders in the weeks and months to come as we work to create the new department, which will unite our development expertise and first class diplomatic service to make the UK a force for good in the world.