Background
“We will honour our aid commitments, but at the same time will ensure much greater transparency and scrutiny of aid spending to deliver value for money for British taxpayers and to maximise the impact of our aid budget” (The Coalition: Our Programme for Government).
The Government commitment to spend 0.7% of Gross National Income on Official Development Assistance (ODA) by 2013 imposes a duty to secure value for money, ensure accountability to the British public and build on what works. This commitment was matched by a commitment to greater transparency and increased scrutiny.
To ensure this, ICAI has been established to scrutinise aid independently.
ICAI was officially launched on 12 May 2011 with the publication of the ICAI work plan at an event in parliament.