Source · Select Committees · International Development Committee
Ninth Report - Investment for development: The UK’s strategy towards Development Finance Institutions
International Development Committee
HC 884
Published 15 September 2023
Recommendations
19
Accepted in Part
Para 103
Require BII to align its entire portfolio with the UK Government's development agenda, emphasising impact.
Recommendation
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 …
Read more
Government Response Summary
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 spot checks are needed to verify BII's internal assessments.
20
Accepted in Part
Para 104
Require BII to perform annual impact assessments and divest from misaligned portfolio investments.
Recommendation
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 …
Read more
Government Response Summary
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 additional external spot checks are needed to verify BII's internal assessments.
22
Accepted in Part
Para 116
Mandate BII to transparently report detailed financial, impact, and fossil fuel investment data annually.
Recommendation
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 …
Read more
Government Response Summary
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 to publishing a full annual listing of fossil fuel investments or plans for recourse for shortcomings.