NAO Overseas Work 2020-02-06
2020-02-06
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Q1
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Context
The NAO is concerned with ensuring value for money in overseas aid work.
We have some excellent institutions that work towards underpinning our overseas trade and investment, but if we are to boost international trade, we need to increase our appetite for risk. Does the Chairman of the Public Accounts Commission agree that a higher number of failed projects will be a sign of success?
I assure my hon. Friend that that is simply not the case. The NAO recognises that the civil service, and indeed Ministers, occasionally have to take risks, because that is the only way to learn—you learn from failure. We are not risk-averse, but we expect Departments to evaluate risk.
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