Committees

Accountability and transparency on spending foreign aid in the UK by Government departments to be challenged by MPs

6 February 2023

More than £1 billion pounds of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s foreign aid budget was spent in the UK by the Home Office to support refugees and asylum seekers in 2021, according to Government statistics. It is anticipated this figure greatly increased in 2022.

Purpose of the Session

The International Development Committee is to question ministers from the Home Office, FCDO and Treasury on the priorities underpinning the UK’s current aid spending. While the Government has reduced international aid funding from 0.7 to around 0.5 per cent of Gross National Income to deal with internal fiscal pressures, the stated objectives of ODA, to promote the economic development and welfare of developing countries, are at risk because of spend at home.

Aid spending in the UK may well continue to increase. Based on a forecast of around 270,000 arrivals in 2022 from three main sources: Ukrainians issued with visas under the UK schemes, small boat arrivals, and the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme, the Center for Global Development estimates that UK in-country refugee costs could increase to more than £3 billion in 2022. The Center notes that no G7 country (US, Germany, France, Canada, Italy, Japan) other than the UK is funding all the costs of hosting Ukrainian refugees from their existing aid budget.

At the last evidence session with the Minister for Development in December 2022, Andrew Mitchell MP told the International Development Committee that while funds for the Official Development Assistance budget (ODA) had been paused, expenditure streams had been ‘out of control’. MPs will seek an update on his Department’s plans to address this.

The Chair of the International Development Committee, Sarah Champion MP, said:

“In good faith, the UK wants to support refugees and asylum seekers. The Governments costs to support in-country refugees have doubled in recent years and run high compared to most other countries in the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee, which sets the rules on Official Development Assistance.

“By funding in-country refugees with money designed to support the lowest income countries, we are depriving the world’s poorest of the life-saving aid they need. To date the Committee has received no clarity on how the Home Office is spending taxpayers money. We are looking for clear indications from the Government about who holds the UK’s aid budget and how they are prioritising spending.”

MPs are also likely to ask about:

  • The pressures on the ODA development budget
  • Accountability and transparency of ODA spending in the UK
  • The impacts on the UK’s aid spending overseas
  • The UK Government’s interpretation of ODA rules
  • FCDO plans to oversee the quality of UK aid spending.

Witnesses

Further information

Image: Flickr