Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he plans to (a) expand or (b) reduce the number of countries eligible for Prosperity Fund Projects in 2017-18.

The Cross-government Prosperity Fund is primarily Official Development Assistance (ODA) and is open to all countries that remain ODA eligible under the OECD Development Assistance Committee classification. Detailed design of the Prosperity Fund is still ongoing, and in order to maximise impact, Ministers have agreed that the Fund should concentrate on countries with large numbers of poor people and that still face significant development challenges but which are also key for driving future global prosperity. Those countries will be kept under regular review throughout the duration of the Fund.