, a branch of the Foreign Office, amid concerns over inappropriate investments and environmental harm. It came as the committee said the UK's development finance institution had put money into fossil fuels and a private schools group that was hit by child sex abuse allegations, among other suspect investments. Others include a daycare surgery in India that was restructured into a cosmetic surgery clinic in 2015. The BII did not exit this investment until eight years later in 2023. The BII also has investments in fossil fuels and has backed Wine Connection, a chain of off licences in South East Asia. In a new report, the committee warned that the BII must improve oversight and transparency as some of its investments were in conflict with UK government policies 'or may actually have harmed society and the environment'. The BII was set up to support projects that help development but would otherwise be overlooked by investors. Many of its investments are self-funded from its returns but it also receives hundreds of millions of fresh capital from the Foreign Office's aid budget each year. The BII relies on local partners around the world to make investments on its behalf. However, this has led to UK taxpayer cash ending up in a series of projects that do not match the fund's aims, the IDC warned. The BII had direct investments in Bridge International Schools, a Kenyan-based private education group that has faced allegations of child sex abuse and labour rights violations. Allegations were first raised in 2018. Bridge International set up a Critical Incident Advisory Unit in response to an in-depth investigation by US news website The Intercept earlier this year and has introduced s){kind=link}
MPs warn over taxpayer money going towards ‘questionable investments’ abroad
Taxpayer cash is being spent on “questionable investments” overseas with aid budget money going towards wine merchants and cosmetic surgery, MPs have warned.
The House of Commons international development committee has called for a change in governance at British International Investment (BII), a branch of the Foreign Office, amid concerns over inappropriate investments and environmental harm.
It came as the committee said the UK’s development finance institution had put money into fossil fuels and a private schools group that was hit by child sex abuse allegations, among other suspect investments.
Others include a daycare surgery in India that was restructured into a cosmetic surgery clinic in 2015. The BII did not exit this investment until eight years later in 2023.