ICAI confirms approach to following up on recommendations from 2023-24
19 May 2025
Each year, the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) assesses progress made by the government on implementing our recommendations to improve the effectiveness of UK aid spending.
This is an important step in the accountability chain, providing Parliament’s International Development Committee (IDC) and other stakeholders with evidence on whether the government has taken appropriate action in response to our findings.
The Fourth Commission, led by Commissioners Jillian Popkins, Harold Freeman and Liz Ditchburn, began in July 2024. To ensure there is accountability for recommendations made by the previous Commissioners, we plan to take a tailored approach to following up on outstanding reviews and issues that they identified.
For the below 2023-24 reviews, which have not yet been revisited by ICAI, we will follow up with government teams on progress they have made implementing recommendations, assess the evidence they provide, and publish updates on the review pages on our website in due course.
- Blue Planet Fund
- UK aid’s international climate finance commitments
- Tackling fraud in UK aid: country case studies
- The UK Department of Health and Social Care’s aid-funded global health research and innovation
- UK aid for sustainable cities
For the below reviews, already followed up at least once by the previous Commission, we will write to government about any issues still outstanding and ask them to provide us with a final update for publication.
- UK aid’s alignment with the Paris Agreement
- Tackling fraud in UK aid through multilateral organisations
- UK aid to India
- The FCDO’s Programme Operating Framework
- UK aid to agriculture in a time of climate change
The remaining reviews cover topics we plan to revisit under the Fourth Commission, so outstanding recommendations will be considered as part of new reviews. We may also write to government and ask for updates on specific issues where appropriate or refer to other scrutiny bodies.
- The UK’s humanitarian response to COVID-19
- The UK’s approaches to peacebuilding
- The UK’s approach to democracy and human rights
- UK aid to refugees in the UK
- UK aid to Ukraine
ICAI’s approach to following up on the first reviews to be published under the Fourth Commission, in 2025-26, will be confirmed in due course.