Draft Asian Development Bank (Thirteenth Replenishment of the Asian Development Fund) Order 2024 Draft Inter-American Investment Corporation (Further Payments to Capital Stock) Order 2024

Andrew Rosindell Excerpts

Monday 16th December 2024 General Committees

[Andrew Rosindell (Romford) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Vickers, for what I think is the first time ever; I hope that there will be many more such occasions. I thank the Minister for her very detailed and comprehensive explanation of the matters that we are discussing today, but as she will imagine, I have a lot of questions and points of clarification to put to her.

I turn first to the draft Asian Development Bank (Thirteenth Replenishment of the Asian Development Fund) Order. His Majesty’s Opposition recognise the important work that the bank does in different parts of the region, as the Minister has outlined. The work of the Asian Development Bank was supported by the previous Government, and the Opposition continue to support it. However, I would be grateful if the Minister provided much more granular detail about the up to £120 million that she proposes to spend. It is a lot of money; I think all our constituents want to see justification when money is spent, especially large sums of that kind. We have had a very high-level explanation today, but we need to go a bit deeper and look at some details.

Precisely what climate change mitigation should we expect to be funded? What kind of sustainable infrastructure development are we looking at? Will the Minister elaborate on what the Government are trying to achieve by means of “deepening regional co-operation”? What does she mean by that?

The Committee would also benefit from more information about the distribution of funds. How will they be geographically spread across the region of jurisdiction? Which areas are priorities for His Majesty’s Government?

Will the Minister also enlighten the Committee about the steps that the Labour Government are taking to help multilateral banks such as the Asian Development Bank to take maximum advantage of the huge potential offered by private finance for development? As the Committee will know, the last Conservative Government’s international development White Paper, which was published last year, was centred around mobilising financial institutions and private capital. That included ensuring that every penny of UK funding embedded in the multilateral development banks went as far as possible and was used to best effect.

We want to see evidence of what the Labour Government will be doing to pick up the baton and continue the work of the previous Government. To that end, will the Minister confirm what new initiatives are being undertaken by British International Investment to unlock greater volumes of private finance? The Conservative Government championed BII’s aspiration to try new approaches to secure more private finance, with a clear focus on equity investment to support businesses in developing economies to access additional finance. Does Labour support that? Does the Minister agree that lessons could be learned from British International Investment successes in this area that could influence the adoption of new business models by MDBs?

United Kingdom aid is a powerful driver for lifting people out of poverty, but only if it is complemented by supporting economic development policies that enable countries in receipt of our financial assistance to develop and grow their own economic base through trade, employment and skills development. Are the Government looking at furthering our work on economic prosperity by working with British firms that can offer skills, education and employment development to countries and effectively promote British interests overseas?

[The Chair]

Order. The shadow Minister is moving beyond the scope of the draft orders. I ask him to conclude his remarks.

[Andrew Rosindell]

Additionally, the Conservative Government made good advances both in spending power and in expertise, as well as leveraging our position to reform and improve the global aid system so that it could manage the challenges of this century and address our national priorities. In that specific context, we need to ensure that the money going into ADB and other MDBs is clearly targeted at bringing about economic progress, because that is what drives human development in turn.

I will turn, if I may, to the Inter-American Investment Corporation. The UK became a member of the corporation under the previous Government, and we recognise its importance as the largest source of development finance in Latin America and the Caribbean. What assurances can the Minister give that the Government are advancing the previous Government’s commitment to continually improve the effectiveness of development delivered through the corporation?

The last Government strongly supported the corporation’s reform programme. Do the current Government intend to do the same, particularly in relation to increasing the level of co-investment attracted from private investments and the allocation of capital? Will the Minister clarify whether the Government will indeed seek to purchase additional shares to take our holding up to 1.5%?

In relation to how the funding will be used, does the Minister agree that we need to improve our partnership offer, particularly to the Caribbean nations, if we are to counter the growing economic and development presence of China in the region? If she does agree, how does she intend to do so through our funding of the corporation? What measures will be in place to scrutinise the effectiveness of our offer, investments and resources so that the UK is not indirectly subsidising initiatives that could be counter to our national interests and foreign policy objectives?

Will the Minister tell us about funding through the corporation? Will it be supporting projects in support of the British overseas territories in that region? Can she provide the details of priority countries and projects?

Before I draw my remarks to a close, I will mention smaller aid and development organisations. This discussion is understandably centred on the role of big players, but we must never forget the small charities with dedicated volunteers and grassroots support who put their heart and soul into great causes and often receive less attention and support than they deserve. Can the Minister confirm whether the Government have a plan to support the smaller charities, in addition to these big projects? It was a Conservative Government who established the small charities challenge fund—

[The Chair]

Order. I have been very relaxed, but I ask the shadow Minister to conclude. The Minister need not comment on questions that are out of scope.

[Andrew Rosindell]

I will conclude, Mr Vickers.

Finally, what timeframe can the Minister outline as to how and when the work of the corporation will be reviewed? Will the review be published and subject to full parliamentary scrutiny?