Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the latest adjustments to the UK contributions to the Commonwealth Secretariat budget, particularly in relation to the scope and staffing of the Commonwealth Health and Education Unit and the measurement of progress of its work across the Commonwealth.

Through projects and programmes, the Commonwealth Secretariat's general budget - to which the UK pays an assessed contribution - is used to deliver outcomes outlined in the Commonwealth Secretariat Strategic Plan. The Strategic Plan will be discussed and approved at the next Board of Governors meetings in March.

The UK's assessed contribution does not fund specific projects. The Department for International Development makes voluntary contributions to the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation and a number of Commonwealth programmes.