Source · Select Committees · International Development Committee
Recommendation 9
9
Not Addressed
Paragraph: 41
We are concerned that the use of non-disclosure agreements in the aid sector could be...
Recommendation
We are concerned that the use of non-disclosure agreements in the aid sector could be used to cover-up misconduct and will exacerbate power imbalances. As part of its due diligence processes the FCDO should require organisations it funds to report to it the number of non-disclosure agreements they have signed, to help the FCDO to ensure that its partners are not misusing NDAs to silence individuals who raise legitimate concerns.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government's response discusses the Domestic Abuse Bill extending UK court jurisdiction for sexual offences committed overseas, which is entirely unrelated to the recommendation about requiring FCDO partners to report on non-disclosure agreements.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
41
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government · verbatim extract
Not Addressed
We agree that NDAs must not be misused to silence individuals who raise legitimate concerns. We do not think that asking organisations as part of due diligence to report the number of NDAs they have signed is the most effective way of emphasising that point. NDAs are legitimate tools of business and counting their prevalence will not give us any information about improper use or whistleblowing. We are actively exploring adding language to our funding templates, Supply Partner Code of Conduct and Due Diligence process to make our expectations of partners even clearer and ensure programme teams and central compliance teams actively monitor the appropriate use of NDAs and manage the risk of abuse. So overall we partially agree with the recommendation. 4 Seventh Special Report of Session 2019–21
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