Clause 6 - Progress towards net expenditure target
International Development (Reporting and Transparency) Bill
10:15 am
Tom Clarke (Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill, Labour)
The new clause deals with one of the most important issues in the Bill: progress towards the UN target of 0.7 per cent. of gross national income. For the purposes of simplicity, provision for the historical financial reporting on official development assistance as a proportion of GNI has been moved to the schedule. Again that takes into account representations made on Second Reading concerning repetition and streamlining of the Bill. Other than that, the new clause is substantively the same as the one that it seeks to replace. In other words, it contains the clear commitment.
I am privileged and delighted to put the new clause before the Committee. If it is endorsed by the Committee and by Parliament, it will be the first time that the UN target of 0.7 per cent. of GNI has been embraced in statute. The Committee will know that for 36 years, all Governments have been committed to obtaining that figure. The late Judith Hart, the Minister’s predecessor, played a formidable role in seeking to achieve it, and we acknowledge that today. However, over those years, there have been ups and downs, and the plain and simple fact is that we have never made it. The House will want to know what has been achieved, and how we are reaching the target and staying there. What better way could there be of doing so than by recording progress in the annual report that we propose and which is at the heart of our discussions today? I commend the new clause to the Committee.