Tuesday 17 June 2025,
14.00, Committee Room 8, House of Commons
On Tuesday 17 June, MPs will explore whether the Government is
getting value for money from its use of contractors in
development programming.
The International Development Committee will hold the final
evidence session of its inquiry into the Foreign, Commonwealth
and Development Office's (FCDO) approach to value for money.
Split across two panels, the session will focus on the FCDO's
Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) processes and its use
of private contractors.
Data collection and MEL are vital for understanding how best to
allocate resources and spend across the department. However, the
Committee has previously raised concerns about the FCDO's data
collection processes, stating in a report
that “we fail to understand how the Department can properly
target resources or develop and disseminate best practice across
development programmes if it does not know who it is helping and
where.” Similar concerns have also been raised by academics.
In light of this, the Committee are likely to ask the first
panellists how MEL is currently being applied at the FCDO, how it
affects partner organisations, and whether the FCDO is
sufficiently transparent in sharing information about its MEL
processes.
In the second panel, MPs will consider the FCDO's use of private
contractors and whether they offer good value for money. The
Committee are also likely to ask witnesses about the advantages,
but also potential risks to value for money, of using private
contractors.
Witnesses
From 14.00:
- Anisa Berdellima, Director of Evidence and Impact, MSI
Reproductive Choices
- Alex Hurrell, Head of Evaluation, Verian Group
- Mark Henstridge, Chief Executive Officer, Oxford Policy
Management
From 15.00:
- Sinead Magill, Chief Executive Officer, Palladium, in person
- Dr Brendan Whitty, Lecturer in Non-Profit Management, St
Andrews University, in person
