Written question asked by Preet Kaur Gill (Labour) on Tuesday, 21 July 2020, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 1 September 2020. It was answered by Wendy Morton (Conservative) on Tuesday, 1 September 2020 on behalf of the Department for International Development.

Development Aid

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the effect on local partners in the global south of a reduction in the UK's official development assistance budget.

Answer: Local partners are fundamental to the UK's delivery of ODA being effective and impactful. This is particularly demonstrated through their knowledge, partnerships and agility. Ministers reviewed every strand of the ODA budget, evaluating the impacts of spend and making sure we can maintain operational capacity. Prioritisation decisions in DFID were made at the project level and considered various criteria such as: how programmes contribute to development impact; value for money; national interest; the impact on suppliers and supply chains - including local partners; and to what extent we could feasibly save money from a specific project. Bilateral projects were also assessed against the vulnerability of each country.

Secondary information