Select Committee · International Development Committee

Investment for development: The UK’s strategy towards Development Finance Institutions

Status: Closed Opened: 9 Nov 2022 Closed: 7 Dec 2023 8 recommendations 15 conclusions 1 report

The International Development Committee launched an inquiry on Investment for Development: the UK’s strategy towards development finance institutions and the effectiveness of aid spending through British International Investment (BII). This inquiry assessed whether BII is best placed to deliver impact and value for the UK taxpayer, given that a greater proportion of the future aid …

Reports

1 report

Title	HC No.	Published	Items	Response
Ninth Report - Investment for development: The UK’s strateg…	HC 884	15 Sep 2023	23	Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

3 items

19 Recommendation Ninth Report - Investment for developme… Accepted in Part

Require BII to align its entire portfolio with the UK Government's development agenda, emphasising impact.

BII must ensure that its entire portfolio is aligned with the UK Government’s development agenda. With a diminished ODA budget there is more pressure to target development assistance towards the poorest and most marginalised groups: consequently, there is a greater responsibility for BII to actively manage its portfolio. It should …

Government response. The government partially accepts, agreeing ministers should maintain scrutiny over ODA and BII allocations. While stating BII annually monitors development impact for active investments since 2012 and current monitoring is appropriate, the FCDO will review in 2024 whether additional external …

20 Recommendation Ninth Report - Investment for developme… Accepted in Part

Require BII to perform annual impact assessments and divest from misaligned portfolio investments.

To deliver accountability and transparency and to operate in lockstep with the International Development Strategy, BII must assess the impact of its portfolio under previous strategy periods and actively manage its portfolio. BII must perform annual assessments of the impact delivered by all of its portfolio investments, including those businesses …

Government response. The government partially accepts, agreeing ministers should scrutinize the ODA budget and BII allocations. While stating BII already annually monitors impact for active investments since 2012 and that current monitoring is considered appropriate, the FCDO will review in 2024 whether …

22 Recommendation Ninth Report - Investment for developme… Accepted in Part

Mandate BII to transparently report detailed financial, impact, and fossil fuel investment data annually.

BII must prioritise the monitoring and reporting of investment activity and transparently report its financial and impact data. This should include, but not be limited to: (a) the number and type of jobs created, (b) types and value of capital mobilised, (c) the 2X Challenge assessment of its portfolio according …

Government response. The government partially accepts, agreeing on the importance of monitoring and reporting. BII will publish a Transparency Roadmap and begin disclosing qualifying criteria for new 2X investments, while already reporting on some impact data. However, it does not explicitly commit …

Oral evidence sessions

4 sessions

Date	Witnesses
6 Jun 2023	Rt Hon Andrew Mitchell · Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office	View ↗
25 Apr 2023	Diana Layfield · British International Investment, Nick O’Donohoe CMG · British International Investment	View ↗
7 Mar 2023	David Kuijper · FMO, Joe Dharampal-Hornby · Impact Investing Institute, Mr Stuart Bradley · Phatisa Group Limited, Samantha Attridge · Overseas Development Institute	View ↗
24 Jan 2023	Anna Marriot · Oxfam, Daniel Willis · Global Justice Now, Graham Gordon · Catholic International Development Charity (CAFOD), Paul James · Publish What You Fund	View ↗

Correspondence

3 letters

Date	Direction	Title
10 Jan 2024	—	Correspondence from the Minister for Development & Africa relating to Clarifica…
10 Jan 2024	—	Correspondence to the Minister for Development & Africa relating to Clarificati…
5 Jul 2023	—	Correspondence from the Minister for Development and Africa regarding British I…