Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that ODA's achieve better value than cash transfers during the next three financial years.

FCDO has strong processes in place to ensure Official Development Assistance is well spent and the principles of value for money are driven throughout each stage of the programme cycle.

Cash transfers can be an effective means of delivering ODA, which is why we use them in appropriate contexts. For example, FCDO currently supports social protection and/or humanitarian cash transfer programmes in more than 30 countries, including Fragile and Conflict Affected States, which support people who are vulnerable to the economic impact of COVID-19 and helps deliver the Global Goals. ICAI conducted a review of DFID's use of Cash Transfers in 2017 which noted that that the portfolio "presents a strong value for money case" and that DFID has "used evidence and learning well to strengthen its results.