Role of Parliament
Scrutiny of international development spend was something addressed by Scotland’s International Development Alliance, who saw room for improvement in the interest both of best value and policy coherence—
“We cannot see value for money unless we see it as connected to everything else that is going on in the Scottish context and, again, the Parliament has a role in ensuring that that happens.”iOfficial Report, 13 Jan 2022, Cols 20-21
They proposed “a normative approach” to “inflation-proof the budget and drive towards political consensus, saying that more scrutiny was “essential”.Response 417297969 to Inquiry into the Scottish Government’s international work - Scottish Parliament - Citizen Space
The Committee very much recognises the importance of parliamentary scrutiny of international development spend, particularly in light of the increase in the scale of the funding plus the changes introduced by the 2021 Review of International Development Policy.