Commentary on Sections
Section 1: Duty to meet United Nations 0.7% target from 2015
10.Subsection (1) places a duty to the Secretary of State to ensure that the target for ODA to amount to 0.7% of GNI is met by the UK in 2015 and subsequent years.
11.Subsection (2) provides that whether or not the 0.7% target has been met in any year will be determined by reference to amounts specified for each year in an annual report produced under section 1 of the 2006 Act. Under section 7(3) of the 2006 Act, each annual report must include explanations and definitions of the terms GNI and ODA. In practice, they follow those provided by the DAC and ONS.
Section 2: Duty to lay statement before Parliament if 0.7% target not met
12.Subsection (1) provides that if the Secretary of State’s annual report, laid before Parliament in 2015 or in any subsequent year, shows that the 0.7% target had not been reached by the UK in the year to which the report relates, then the Secretary of State for International Development must lay a statement before Parliament as soon as reasonably practicable after laying the report.
13.Subsection (2) provides for the possibility that figures in an annual report may be revised. Section 1(4) of the 2006 Act provides that an annual report published under the 2006 Act may revise anything contained in a previous annual report. This subsection of the Act provides that where a revision is made to the figures for any year in an annual report and that revision would mean that the 0.7% target was no longer met in respect of 2014 or any subsequent year, then the Secretary of State must lay a statement before Parliament as soon as reasonably practicable after making that revision.
14.Subsection (3) provides that the statement must explain why the 0.7% target has not been met, and where relevant, must refer to the effect of economic or fiscal circumstances or circumstances arising outside the UK (for example, failure of a foreign government to achieve targets necessary to trigger debt relief) on the failure to meet the target.
15.Subsection (4) provides that, where the Secretary of State is required to lay a statement before Parliament under subsection (1), that statement must describe any steps he or she has taken to ensure the 0.7% target will be met in the following calendar year.
Section 3: Accountability to Parliament
16.Subsection (1) provides that accountability in relation to the duty to meet the target is solely by way of the requirement to lay a statement before Parliament.
17.Subsection (2) provides that the fact that the duty in section 1 is not complied with does not affect the lawfulness of anything done, or omitted to be done, by any person.
Section 4: Repeal of section 3 of 2006 Act
18.Section 4 provides for the repeal of the Secretary of State’s duty, in section 3 of the 2006 Act, to forecast when the 0.7% target will be met. This repeal takes account of the new duty in section 1 to ensure the UK meets the 0.7% target from 2015 onwards.
Section 5: Independent evaluation of official development assistance
19.Section 5 requires the Secretary of State to ensure that the value for money of UK expenditure on ODA is subject to independent review. It also requires the Secretary of State to include in each annual report (as defined in section 1) a statement about how he or she has complied with this duty.
Section 6: Short title, commencement and extent
20.Subsection (2) provides for the Act to come into force on 1 June 2015. Subsection (3) provides for the Act to extend to the whole of the United Kingdom.
