Select committee: International Development Committee
Conclusion 22
First Report - Racism in the aid sector
Published 23 Jun 2022
Paragraph 62
Addressed to Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
International Development Committee The philosophy and culture of aid All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
We are concerned that the decision to designate the merged Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office as a ‘reserved department’ shuts down the possibility of civil servants from the countries where UK aid funding is spent, from taking part in funding decisions. It appears to go against other commitments to diversity in staffing and to shift decision making power towards the countries where the aid budget is spent.
From: International Development Committee, First Report - Racism in the aid sector (HC 150), paragraph 62, 23 June 2022
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 23 January 2023 (deadline 23 August 2022).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government says it takes racism in the aid sector seriously and is already working to address it, but it declines some recommendations, including a review of reserved department status and requiring funded organisations to publish diversity data.
- On local partners, it states that the FCDO "does not value international expertise over local expertise" and points to existing measures, including a 10% Social Value weighting in tender evaluations and a Due Diligence Hub.
- On reserved department status, it says "There is currently no plan to review" it, citing the threat to FCDO staff from state actors.
- On diversity data, it says requiring funded organisations to publish it "may not always be either appropriate or possible". It does not currently publish ethnicity pay gap data, and the Cabinet Office "is expected to issue guidance" in 2023.
- On terminology, it says it is "exploring taking part" in the sector debate led by Bond. On convening, it will "continue to look for opportunities" to support the sector on inclusion.