Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what criteria his Department is using to make decisions on UK Official Development Assistance funded programmes for 2021.

All Government Departments with responsibility for spending Official Development Assistance took part in a cross-government process, led by my Rt. Hon. Friend the First Secretary of State, to review in detail how ODA is allocated between key priorities - recognising the difficult economic circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On 2^nd December last year, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary wrote to the Chair of the International Development Committee setting out the Strategic Framework for UK ODA, which details the UK’s foreign aid spending priorities. In line with these priorities, he confirmed each Department’s total ODA settlement on 26^th January.

We are currently working with UKRI, and all our Global Challenges Research Fund and Newton Fund Delivery Partners to manage the Financial Year 2021/22 ODA allocations. UKRI have written to their award holders to set out the process for reviewing ODA funding next year, and to explore options for individual programmes. (Full details have been published on the UKRI website). Ongoing GCRF and Newton Fund programme activity will be prioritised according to the Strategic Framework for UK ODA priorities.