International Development Committee - role

Welcome to the International Development Committee website

The International Development Committee monitors the policy, administration and spending of the Department for International Development and its associated public bodies and takes an interest in the policies and procedures of the multilateral agencies and non-government organisations to which DFID contributes.

The Committee consists of eleven backbench Members of Parliament. The Committee's Chair is Sir Malcolm Bruce MP, Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Gordon. The Committee is an investigative Committee rather than a legislative Committee: it sets its own programme and chooses subjects for inquiries. For each inquiry, a press notice is issued listing the terms of reference and inviting interested parties to send written submissions. For most inquiries, the Committee will also hold question and answer "oral evidence" sessions with witnesses. These are held in public, normally in a Committee Room at the Houses of Parliament. 

Webcasts of recent oral evidence sessions can be viewed at Parliament TV. If you would like to receive press releases from the Committee please e-mail indcom@parliament.uk current inquiries, oral and written evidence, as well as Reports and Publications produced by the Committee can also be found on these pages.

Members of the International Development Committee also sit on the Committees on Arms Export Controls, this consists of four Select Committees: Business, Innovation and Skills; Defence; Foreign Affairs; and International Development Committees meeting and working together. Further information on this joint Committees work can be found here Committees on Arms Export Controls         

A full account of the International Development Committee's activties is published in the House of Commons Sessional Return.