Overseas Aid

(asked on 13th April 2021) - View Source

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the potential effect of the reduction in Official Development Assistance spending from 0.7 per cent to 0.5 per cent of GNI in 2021 on the UK fiscal situation.


Answered by
Steve Barclay Portrait
Steve Barclay
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
This question was answered on 20th April 2021

In the context of unprecedented economic and fiscal circumstances, the Government decided at the 2020 Spending Review that sticking rigidly to spending 0.7% of gross national income as Official Development Assistance (ODA) was not an appropriate prioritisation of resources.

To ensure coherence and maximum value for money from the UK’s ODA spending, the Foreign Secretary led a cross-government process after the 2020 Spending Review to review in detail how ODA is allocated against the Government’s priorities. This has ensured that UK ODA is focused on our strategic priorities, spent where it will have the maximum impact, has greater coherence and delivers most value for money.

The Government intends to return to the 0.7% target when the fiscal situation allows. We cannot at this moment predict with certainty when the current fiscal circumstances will have sufficiently improved.

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