Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they plan to take to ensure that the merger of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development enables the maintenance of good quality, poverty-focused aid.

This Government is unashamed in believing that its job is to promote British influence around the world, to try to change the world for the better, and to get best value for the British taxpayer who spends so generously to help others. This change will help us do that.

Our reputation as a world leader on development issues comes from three things: our thought leadership; the scale and quality of UK development programmes; and excellence of our analysis, long term perspective and staff. None of these will change with the creation of the FCDO, but our development work will now be better aligned with foreign policy and the broad UK national interest. It should make our development work even more effective. DFID has been a more effective spender of aid than any other Government department – that expertise must be brought into the centre of the new department.

The work of UK Aid to reduce poverty will remain central to the new department’s mission and we will continue to be guided by our responsibilities under the International Development Act.