Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by The World Bank Group Capture of Foreign Aid: Evidence from Offshore Bank Accounts, published in February, in particular its finding that disbursements of aid to 22 of the most aid-dependent countries coincided with significant increases in the value of bank deposits in tax havens.
We do not tolerate any misuse of UK aid and have robust systems in place to protect our investments. The Government welcomes research in international development, which can help to inform this. The World Bank is a key partner to the Government in international efforts to tackle corruption and has been assessed by the Government and other parties as having robust procedures to combat fraud and corruption in the use of its funds.