Andrew Rosindell – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2015-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will take steps to reduce aid spending in countries with their own space programme.

Mr Desmond Swayne

No UK aid money is spent on helping developing countries put people in space. We already take the growing ability of emerging economies like India and China to finance their own development programmes into account in reviewing our aid relationship with such countries.

Through the ongoing Bilateral Aid Review, we will decide which countries will receive bilateral funding and how much. We will use a range of criteria to determine allocations to countries, including the level and persistence of extreme poverty in the country and the ability of the government of that country to finance its own development needs.