Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2016-01-19.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the European Parliament’s report that 50 per cent of the EU £23 billion aid budget has been delayed or not used, and whether they plan to take steps to terminate the policy of delivering part of the UK overseas aid budget through the EU.

Baroness Verma

The report concerned was compiled by an individual Member of the European Parliament and was not an analysis representing the views of the European Parliament as a whole. It was based on a reading of reports by EU offices in non-EU countries, intended to identify potential problems at an early stage, so that things can be put right in time. In the event that it is proven that money has been wasted, we expect the EU and its audit institutions to take swift and decisive action to recoup funds and to carry out a thorough review of all its programmes to provide a clear set of actions to stop this happening again.