Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their announcement that they have identified a £2.9 billion package of reductions in their planned Official Development Assistance spend, what steps they are taking to ensure that reductions in such spend are made to programmes that have been found to be less effective at poverty alleviation.

The First Secretary led a careful review process to look at every strand of the ODA budget and assess the impacts of spend. ODA spend for 2020 was prioritised to focus on key strategic objectives including poverty reduction for the ‘bottom billion’, tackling climate change and reversing biodiversity loss, championing girls’ education, UK leadership in the global response to Covid-19, and protecting the UK’s science base. These priorities will help the government to deliver our manifesto commitments and ensure that the UK is a global force for good.

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.