Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure (a) transparency and (b) accountability on the provision of official development assistance to support counter-narcotics projects overseas.

The UK government works overseas to tackle drugs supply to the UK alongside other serious and organised crime (SOC) threats in line with the direction and ambition set out in the SOC Strategy 2018.

Overseas counter-narcotics activities are part of wider funded activities (both Official Development Assistance (ODA) and non-ODA) designed to tackle the underlying drivers, enablers and consequences associated with serious and organised crime in developing countries as well as tackling penetration across borders.

The Home Office is committed to ensuring transparency and accountability in all its aid projects, in line with the UK Aid Strategy. Significant progress has been made to that effect, with the 2020 UK Aid Transparency Review listing the Home Office as one of just three departments to have been publishing good quality results data, but we recognise there is more to be done. We will continue to work closely with DfID and other HMG departments on best practices to improve UK aid and its impact.