Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what oversight her Department's chief scientific adviser has of research funding allocations from the Overseas Development Assistance budget.

The Chief Scientific Adviser (CSA) at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), who is also Director of Research, has oversight across all of the Department's allocations of Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) to research. She proposes a detailed plan for spending to the responsible Minister of State, with whom rests the final decision on allocations.

Other government Departments remain responsible for their allocations of ODA. The FCDO CSA liaises regularly with counterparts in these departments, both directly and through the Strategic Coherence for ODA-funded Research (SCOR) Board.