Select committee: International Development Committee
Recommendation 16
Ninth Report - Investment for development: The UK’s strategy towards Development Finance Institutions
Published 15 Sep 2023
Paragraph 83
Addressed to Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
International Development Committee Investment for development: The UK’s strategy towards Development Finance Institutions All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
To ensure that poverty reduction is central to BII’s investment decisions and to prioritise investments that are critical to recipient countries’ development needs, BII must: (a) take responsibility for where its money is invested by exerting greater oversight and control over the activities of financial intermediaries who invest UK taxpayers’ money. (b) ensure that its investments reduce inequality by targeting investments that generate tax receipts in the country of operation rather than channelling money through low-tax jurisdictions that ultimately promote tax savings for those intermediary agents. (c) rigorously monitor all its intermediated investments to ensure that it can intervene before its money is invested in companies whose values are not aligned with the International Development Strategy.
From: International Development Committee, Ninth Report - Investment for development: The UK’s strategy towards Development Finance Institutions (HC 884), paragraph 83, 15 September 2023
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 7 December 2023 (deadline 15 November 2023).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The Government states that it "accepts or partially accepts all recommendations" on British International Investment (BII) and will work with BII to implement relevant reforms, including in negotiations for the 2027 to 2031 strategy.
- On governance, it "partially accepts" Recommendation 1 but "does not agree" that a government official taking a non-voting seat on BII's Board would enhance governance, citing risks such as "blurring lines of responsibility".
- On the British Investment Partnerships strategy (Recommendation 6), it accepts, but notes that consultation "will take time" and says it "does feel able to commit to publishing by summer 2024".
- On targets for BII, it says it is "not appropriate" to introduce multiple additional SMART targets in this strategy period, but the FCDO "will also review its SMART targets for BII as part of the next strategy period from 2027".
- On auditing and annual impact assessments, it believes a full rolling audit "would be disproportionate" but says Ministers "will review in 2024 whether additional spot checks" by external experts "are required".