Committees

The FCDO's approach to value for money

Inquiry

In November 2020, the Government announced a reduction of Official Development Assistance (ODA) from 0.7 per cent to 0.5 per cent of Gross National Income (GNI), a “temporary measure” until a set of certain fiscal rules were met. In the 2024 Autumn Budget, the Government confirmed that the FCDO would be held to the previous government’s fiscal rules, with the OBR confirming that these rules, and therefore a restoration of the aid budget, are not expected to be met during the life of this Parliament. With the UK’s aid budget being under further strain due to Home Office spend on in-donor refugee costs, it becomes increasingly important that the FCDO ensures Value for Money on its programme spending.

In 2011, the former Department for International Development (DFID) published its Value for Money framework, setting out how the Department defined Value for Money, and how this was integrated within its work. This framework set out that Value for Money in DFID’s programme meant “maximising the impact of each pound spent to improve poor people’s lives”, and outlined the intention of DFID to “improve the Value for Money of all aid”, not just DFID’s own. No similar framework has been published by the FCDO since DFID merged with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 2020.

This inquiry considered not just how the FCDO defines Value for Money and how this is implemented within its programming, but also its use of financing instruments to ensure that ODA achieves maximum impact.

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This inquiry is no longer accepting evidence

The deadline for submissions was 11:45pm on 14 January 2025.

Upcoming events

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Past events

Tuesday 17 June 2025
2:00pm Public
The FCDO's approach to value for money - Oral evidence 17 June 2025
2:00pm
  • Anisa Berdellima (Director of Evidence and Impact at MSI Reproductive Choices)
  • Alex Hurrell (Head of Evaluation at Verian Group UK Ltd)
  • Mark Henstridge (Chief Executive Officer at Oxford Policy Management)
3:00pm
  • Sinead Magill (Chief Executive Officer at Palladium Group)
  • Dr Brendan Whitty (Lecturer in Non-Profit Management at St Andrews University)
Room 8, Palace of Westminster
Tuesday 3 June 2025
2:00pm Public
Oral evidence session 3 June 2025
The FCDO's approach to displaced people - Oral evidence
2:00pm
  • The Rt Hon. the Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Minister of State for International Development, Latin America and the Caribbean at Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office)
  • Matthew Wyatt (Director for Humanitarian, Food Security and Resilience Directorate at Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office)
The FCDO's approach to value for money - Oral evidence
3:00pm
  • The Rt Hon. the Baroness Chapman of Darlington (Minister of State for International Development, Latin America and the Caribbean at Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office)
  • Melinda Bohannon (Director General Humanitarian and Development at Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office)
The Grimond Room, Portcullis House
Tuesday 25 March 2025
2:15pm Public
The FCDO's approach to value for money - Oral evidence 25 March 2025
2:15pm
  • Sarah Annable-Gardner (Chief Executive at Action Through Enterprise)
3:30pm
  • Rt Hon Andrew Mitchell (Member at House of Commons)
The Thatcher Room, Portcullis House
Tuesday 11 February 2025
2:00pm Public
The FCDO's approach to value for money - Oral evidence 11 February 2025
2:00pm
  • Stefan Dercon CMG (Professor of Economic Policy at University of Oxford)
  • Shamik Dhar (Director Economist at Deer Run Advisory)
2:45pm
  • Dianne Stewart (Deputy-Director of External Relations and Communications at The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria)
  • Abdoulaye Fabregas (Economist at OECD)
  • Jennifer Armitage (Managing Director at LAMP Development)
The Thatcher Room, Portcullis House

Contact us

We receive a significant number of emails each day. All requests and invitations are considered but we do not respond directly to everyone. Please be aware, the committee does not look at individual cases or specific complaints.

  • Email: indcom@parliament.uk
  • Address: International Development Committee, House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA