Written questions by Harding.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he plans to prioritise (a) maintaining and extending financial commitments to multilateral organisations and (b) bilateral aid to partner countries, in the context of the reduction in ODA.

The Prime Minister has set out a new strategic vision for government spending on defence and security and Official Development Assistance (ODA). Detailed decisions on how the ODA budget will be used will be worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review based on various factors including impact assessments.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what proportion of official development assistance will be allocated to in-donor refugee costs in each fiscal year up to and including 2026/27.

The Home Secretary is committed to ensuring that asylum costs fall and has already acted. The Government has taken measures to reduce the asylum backlog, reform the asylum accommodation system to end the use of expensive accommodation in the next Spending Review period and increase detention capacity to facilitate more asylum removals.Whilst there will always be volatility in asylum forecasts, we expect these decisions to drive down overall in-donor refugee costs over the next Spending Review and the Home Office are well incentivised to deliver this.Detailed decisions on how the Official Development Assistance budget will be used will be worked through as part of the ongoing Spending Review based on various factors including impact assessments.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what his Department's top development priorities are.

The UK remains committed to investing internationally to build a safer world. Reducing the overall size of our Official Development Assistance budget will necessarily have an impact on the scale and shape of the work we do. We will set out how our spending plans deliver on our priorities following the completion of the Spending Review and departmental resource allocation processes.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with his counterparts in other donor countries on responding to the decision to pause USAID funding.

Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals requires collective action, and the UK will continue to work with all international partnerships toward that vision. We are currently working to assess the implications of the USAID funding pause and working with partners to gather information and analysis of the pause. The UK's commitment to supporting both humanitarian aid and development across the world remains steadfast.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to help mitigate the potential impact of USAID’s funding pause on the UK’s international development programmes.

We are currently working to assess the implications of the US funding pause across development sectors. We welcome the news that emergency food aid and life-saving humanitarian assistance should be exempt from the pause in US foreign aid.The UK's commitment to supporting both humanitarian aid and development across the world remains steadfast. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's (FCDO) Official Development Assistance (ODA) programme budget will be £9.24 billion in 2025/26. The FCDO will allocate budgets in line with UK priorities.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many UK aid programmes have been (a) paused and (b) otherwise affected by the USAID funding pause.

We are currently working to assess the implications of the US funding pause across development sectors. We welcome the news that emergency food aid and life-saving humanitarian assistance should be exempt from the pause in US foreign aid. We are assessing implications in other humanitarian and development sectors. The UK's commitment to supporting both humanitarian aid and development across the world remains steadfast.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps he is taking to help support the expansion of the UN’s operational presence in (a) South Darfur and (b) other conflict-affected areas in Sudan.

On 11 February, I met with the ERC, Tom Fletcher, to discuss how the international community can support the UN-led humanitarian response in Sudan through supporting efforts to establish UN presence in areas of greatest need, including Darfur, and South Kordofan. I then chaired a virtual meeting with ten development counterparts and the ERC to discuss how key donors can support this shift in ambition. I also engaged with international counterparts on these issues at the Munich Security Conference. This followed an open session on 6 January 2025, where we called on the warring parties to expand humanitarian access to all civilians in need, whether they live in SAF or RSF-held areas, and called on the Sudanese authorities to authorise further humanitarian hubs, including in Zalingei, Darfur. On 25 November 2024, the Foreign Secretary also chaired a Sudan session during the G7 + Arab Quint Foreign Ministers' meeting to discuss collective action the G7 and Quint could take with the warring parties to press for improved humanitarian access, including by pushing for an increased UN presence in Darfur and other conflict-affected areas.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the continuity of UNRWA's operations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Israeli legislation means United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) faces a cliff edge in its ability to support Palestinian refugees across the West Bank and Gaza. We remain opposed to the legislation, and unequivocally reject attempts to undermine or degrade UNRWA. UNRWA plays a vital role in delivering humanitarian assistance in Gaza and enabling the broader international response through its logistics and distribution network. It is also of huge concern that implementation will come just 10 days after the ceasefire began. The Foreign Secretary raised this on 13 January with Foreign Minister Sa'ar, during his visit to the region. I also met with UNRWA leadership and reiterated UK support. I reiterated our position at a UN Security Council session on 20 January. The Foreign Secretary's Representative for Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territories also raised this with the Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs on 23 January.