Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether an impact assessment was carried out prior to the decision to reduce the Official Development Assistance budget (a) in general and (b) on UK research and development.

The UK is facing the worst economic contraction in over 300 years, and a budget deficit of close to £400 billion. Given the impact of this global pandemic on the economy and, as a result, the public finances, the UK has moved to spend 0.5% of GNI as Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) in 2021.

To ensure coherence and maximum value for money from ODA spending, the Foreign Secretary ran a cross-government process after the 2020 Spending Review to allocate ODA against the government's priorities this year. During the following ODA allocation process for FCDO budgets in 2021/22, officials considered risks and impacts to inform advice to Ministers.