Written question asked by Lord Patten (Conservative) on Monday, 30 November 2020, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Monday, 14 December 2020. It was answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Conservative) on Monday, 14 December 2020 on behalf of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

Pakistan: Development Aid

Question: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have identified any misuse of UK aid in Pakistan in the last five years; if so, what; and whether they are currently investigating any allegations that they have received from third parties of the misuse of such aid.

Answer: All our programmes have systems in place to detect misuse of aid, including active risk management and assessment of the programme delivery chain. The FCDO undertakes Due Diligence and Fiduciary risk assessments for potential partners. A financial audit is conducted annually for implementing partners. A portfolio risk assurance programme conducts in depth reviews of our implementing partners to provide extra assurance. Where cases are detected, officials ensure that a full investigation is carried out, and that action is taken to recover funding and prevent future problems. We are unable to comment on individual cases, however in the last 3 years the FCDO has overhauled its approach to fraud prevention, detection, and recovery of taxpayers' money. We expect all implementing partners to have the same zero tolerance approach to fraud that we have if they are to receive taxpayers' money.

Secondary information