Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration Ministers and the Supervisory Board of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office have given to ensuring that the impacts on freedom of religion and belief are taken into account when decisions on Official Development Assistance allocations are made; whether this is being considered as part of the review of the FDCO's equality impact assessments; and how they assess the FCDO's overall equalities performance.

The FCDO's development spending is used to achieve better development outcomes, with a strong focus on poverty reduction and accelerating progress on the Sustainable Development Goals. UK support is targeted to where it is most needed and effective including, where appropriate, to minority religious or belief communities. Our Equalities Impact Unit raises capability across the FCDO on Equality Impact Assessments and the Public Sector Equality Duty so that decisions on ODA allocations and programmes give due regard to the potential impacts on protected characteristics. Through our annual Management Assurance Process, we assess performance across the FCDO on integrating equality considerations into our work.