Select committee: International Development Committee
Recommendation 22
Fifth Report - Extreme poverty and the Sustainable Development Goals
Published 13 Dec 2022
Paragraph 107
Addressed to Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
International Development Committee Extreme poverty and the Sustainable Development Goals All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
The 2022 Aid Transparency Index noted the FCDO’s deterioration in transparency compared with DFID’s performance in 2020, in part due to “inconsistent publication of results, evaluations and objectives.” The FCDO failed to publish detailed budgets in its Annual Report and Accounts 2022, which meant that we were unable to scrutinise its spending plans. We understand that allocations are subject to change, but the Department must set out provisional budgets in its annual report. Furthermore, the FCDO must address the issues highlighted by the 2022 Aid Transparency Index and return to the “very good” status previously achieved by DFID.
From: International Development Committee, Fifth Report - Extreme poverty and the Sustainable Development Goals (HC 149), paragraph 107, 13 December 2022
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 6 March 2023 (deadline 13 February 2023).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government states that it is committed to the Sustainable Development Goals and to ending extreme poverty, and in response to the Committee's recommendations it largely points to existing strategies and programmes rather than adopting new structures.
- On a cross-government Global Health Strategy, it describes an existing "HMG Strategic Framework" and says Ministers "are considering options for communicating" it. No new strategy or six-month deadline is committed to.
- On the 0.7% of GNI aid target, it says it is committed to spending 0.7% "as soon as the fiscal situation allows", and states this was re-emphasised at the Autumn Statement 2022.
- On adding the $2.15 extreme poverty line to British International Investment's scoring, it says doing so was "considered and rejected at the time because it did not materially change the scores".
- On transparency and reporting, it has "made a public commitment to attain 'Very Good' in the 2024 Aid Transparency Index" and intends to update planned ODA allocations "in due course". On a 2023 Voluntary National Review, it says "No decision has been made".