Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 24 February 2023 to Question 149420 on Global Disinformation Index, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that Global Disinformation Index funding is only spent on activities outside the US.

Grant agreements between FCDO and the Global Disinformation Index (GDI) related to this project clearly specify the regions in which activities funded by FCDO will take place. I [Minister Docherty] can again confirm that FCDO did not fund GDI activity in the USA. GDI provide formal quarterly performance reports to FCDO and there are frequent informal contacts between GDI and our programme managers.

All FCDO programmes and projects comply with appropriate HMG programme management, commercial and financial rules and guidance, including monitoring and evaluation of project performance. I can confirm that the FCDO's GDI project complies with these rules.