Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the Voluntary Service Overseas ACTIVE programme in the 2025-26 financial year.

The Prime Minister has taken the decision to increase spending on defence to 2.5 per cent of GDP from 2027, funded by reducing Official Development Assistance (ODA).

The ODA budget will be gradually reduced to the equivalent of 0.3 per cent of GNI by 2027, to help smooth the transition.

This difficult choice reflects the evolving nature of the threats we face, and the strategic shifts required to meet them, while maintaining economic stability.

We are evaluating all ODA funding to ensure value for money for UK taxpayers and have to work harder than ever to make sure our development work delivers for the British public and our Plan for Change.

Our approach balances the UK's proud tradition of supporting the world's most vulnerable with our fundamental responsibility to protect British interests in an increasingly unstable world.