Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Official Development Assistance

Monday 6 July 2020 · 1 question

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 0 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Minister of Defence forecasted to spend 5.58 million on official development assistance in 2020
  • Review ongoing to assess departmental contributions to official development assistance
  • Minister discussed with Foreign Secretary ensuring transparency and scrutiny for spending

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Questions & Answers

Q1 Wendy Chamberlain Lib Dem
Defence Foreign Affairs
Context

Chamberlain inquires about the Ministry of Defence's official development assistance spending.

Question

The Ministry of Defence is forecast to spend £5.58 million on official development assistance in 2020. Given that a review is ongoing regarding departmental contributions, can the Minister outline what discussions he has had with the Foreign Secretary about ensuring transparency and scrutiny for any official development assistance programming?

Answer from James Heappey (Ministry of Defence)

The hon. Lady is exactly right. Development and security sit hand in hand, and as such we are looking at where development activity is essential to the security function our armed forces provide overseas. We will be making the case for that spending to remain unchanged.

Answered
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