Select committee: International Relations and Defence Committee
Conclusion 13
1st Report - The UK and Sub-Saharan Africa: prosperity, peace and development co-operation
Published 10 Jul 2020
Paragraph 83
International Relations and Defence Committee The UK and Sub-Saharan Africa All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
Communication of the new ‘strategic approach’ to Africa has been confused and confusing. Since it was first mentioned in July 2018, when Theresa May MP was the Prime Minister, it has been necessary to piece together the ‘approach’ from different speeches and documents. Moreover, the language it has used to describe its approach has been imprecise—referring to a “strategy” and then a “strategic approach”—and has relied on jargon—referring to “shifts” and “enablers”.
From: International Relations and Defence Committee, 1st Report - The UK and Sub-Saharan Africa: prosperity, peace and development co-operation, paragraph 83, 10 July 2020
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 10 September 2020 (deadline 10 September 2020).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government's response addresses the Committee's recommendations one by one, stating that its 2018 strategic approach remains the framework for Africa policy and that it plans to refresh it after the Integrated Review.
- On the Committee's call for a published priorities list and action plan, the government says a single strategy document "would not be effective" and that the approach rests on country and regional implementation plans. It says it intends to publish further information "in due course".
- On visas, the government says the Home Office "does not plan to undertake a specific review of African visas". It says UKVI is continually reviewing its global visa operation.
- The government says it "fully agrees" that other countries should maintain their official development assistance commitments, and says it has pledged £774 million of UK aid to help end the COVID pandemic.
- On the FCO and DFID merger, the government says that "development spending will remain central to the new department's mission". It says the 0.7 per cent aid commitment is "enshrined in law".