I wish to update the House on the publication of the Annual Report of the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) for Financial Year 2021/22, as well as to announce the initial regional and thematic allocations for this Financial Year (2022/23).

The CSSF is a cross-government fund which uses Official Development Assistance (ODA) and non-ODA funding to enable the integrated delivery of National Security Council priorities. In 2021/22, the CSSF spent £858.7 million against a final cross-government allocation of £864.2 million, representing 99.4% spend. A further breakdown of spend against regional and thematic allocation, by department and by discretionary and non-discretionary spend is included in the FY21/22 Annual Report.

The report outlines how the Fund evolved to deliver against the priorities set out in the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy, including through the introduction of two new portfolios: International State Threats which aims to improve the UK’s ability to detect and deter hostile state activity; and the Gender Peace and Security Portfolio, which seeks to use innovative approaches to addressing gender in post-conflict reconstruction work.

The Report further demonstrates how CSSF programmes have delivered against the Fund’s core principles, including through further improvements in the monitoring and evaluation of results to ensure value for money and effective delivery.

During this reporting period, the Fund continued to adapt to address the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and played an important role in the UK’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

A copy of this document will be deposited in the libraries of both Houses in Parliament and published on GOV.UK.

The CSSF has allocated £889 million to portfolios for financial year 2022/23. This includes some over-allocation, following best practice, to ensure full spend by the end of the financial year.