Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Question to the Department for International Development:
What steps she is taking to promote value for money in aid spending.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt
It is vital that aid spending delivers value for money. I have set a challenge that we ensure aid money is not just spent well, but cannot be spent better.
Asked by: Gordon Henderson (Conservative - Sittingbourne and Sheppey)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, which independent auditor vets UK aid to the Palestinian Territories; and whether that auditor is regulated by any UK regulator.
Answered by Rory Stewart
All organisations which receive funding from DFID are required to provide independently audited financial statements. The United Nations Board of Auditors provides independent external audit services for UN programmes while competitive bidding processes are conducted to appoint auditors for other programmes.
Recent audits of DFID’s programmes in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) have been conducted by Talal Abu Ghazaleh & Co, El Wafa and Price Waterhouse Cooper. Price Waterhouse Cooper is regulated by the UK’s Financial Reporting Council.
Talal Abu Ghazaleh & Co and El Wafa are based in Jordan and the OPTs respectively, and are therefore not regulated by any British regulator. The National Audit Office, the principal state audit body in the United Kingdom, also provides independent external audit of DFID’s spending in the OPTs.