Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the planned reductions to the UK Official Development Assistance budget, whether FCDO country teams are mandated to produce impact assessments and assess the potential effect of reductions in aid on marginalised communities.

The impact of the global pandemic on the UK economy has forced us to take the tough but necessary decision to temporarily reduce how much we spend on Official Development Assistance (ODA). The move to a target of spending 0.5% of Gross National Income (GNI) on ODA, rather than 0.7%, is a temporary measure and we will return to 0.7% when the fiscal situation allows. The UK remains a world leader in international development, and based on current GNI forecasts will spend over £10bn of ODA in 2021. Our aid budget will continue to serve the primary aim of reducing poverty in developing countries.

My department is now working through the implications of the overall reduction in spending for individual programmes. No decisions have yet been made on individual budget allocations. Decisions on aid allocations will take into account the impact on marginalised communities.