Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, for what reasons his Department spends part of the foreign aid budget within the UK; and whether this has required reductions in spending on international schemes.

All UK aid is spent in line with the international rules on what constitutes Official Development Assistance (ODA) as set by the OECD's Development Assistance Committee. Assistance to refugees is considered as humanitarian in nature and is provided with the aim of ensuring the dignity and human rights of beneficiary populations.