Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office will continue to publish an independent evaluation of the extent to which aid provided by the UK represents value for money in relation to the purposes for which that aid is provided.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office will be accountable to Parliament for how it spends UK aid. We remain committed to full transparency in our aid spending and there will continue to be parliamentary and independent scrutiny of the aid budget. This merger is not about changing our high standards for overseas spending. We will continue to look at how our aid budget can be spent most effectively in our national interest, including through the Integrated Review - which will inform the priorities of the new department.