30 Apr 2024
ICAI finds the UK mounted an effective and flexible civilian aid response to the crisis in Ukraine, including bilateral aid of £228m and a 5-year commitment of £4 billion in loan guarantees. Strong efforts to ensure aid reaches vulnerable groups such as the elderly, women and those with disabilities. More humanitarian aid should be channelled […]
18 Apr 2024
Aid watchdog finds FCDO has started work to ensure aid to India goes where it is most needed, and on mobilising climate finance following last year’s review. But ICAI raises questions over some investments made by the UK’s development finance institution BII, including in social media sites and a cosmetics company. Report comes after BII […]
10 Apr 2024
Aid spending on asylum seekers and refugees in the UK rose to £4.3bn in 2023, constituting 28% of the aid budget, as ICAI continues to raise concerns around value for money. Negative impact on FCDO’s development spending less than in previous years, in part due to gross national income being higher than forecast and increased […]
Read more on Use of the aid budget to host refugees in the UK rises to £4.3bn
21 Mar 2024
UK aid to China has fallen by up to 90% since 2019, but the aid watchdog continues to raise concerns about the transparency of the remaining spend in a report today (Thursday 21 March). The Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) finds that aid engagement with China across all of government dropped from £80 million […]
Read more on UK aid to China falls by up to 90% since 2019 but still lacks transparency
29 Feb 2024
ICAI review finds £11.6 billion target will be challenging to meet, with 55% to be spent in the last two years of the pledge. The government “moved the goalposts” by changing the way meeting the target is calculated, and reviewing existing spend to include all eligible ICF. Altogether this amounted to an additional £1.724 billion, of […]
Read more on UK’s £11.6bn climate finance commitment at risk as aid resources stretched
30 Nov 2023
ICAI review of the government’s marine fund launched prior to COP26 finds ‘severe’ risks including lack of cross-government coordination and coherence of the portfolio – resulting in duplication in some areas and delivery gaps in others. In order to launch rapidly and distribute funding early, Defra re-assigned some existing projects rather than focusing on needs […]
Read more on Weak coordination and oversight limit effectiveness of £500m Blue Planet Fund
13 Sep 2023
Watchdog’s review of the four years since current Commission was appointed looks at how UK aid has performed in turbulent times. The impact of external shocks was compounded by frequent changes of political leadership and government’s own decisions to merge DFID and FCO and reduce the aid target. The merger brought much disruption but so […]
Read more on Brexit, COVID-19 and budget reductions put extraordinary pressure on UK aid since 2019
6 Sep 2023
The Illegal Migration Act, if implemented in full, could mean that much of the Home Office’s current spending on support for asylum seekers in the UK would no longer be eligible to come from the aid budget overseen by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), a new analysis finds today (Wednesday 6 September). The […]
Read more on Home Office asylum costs could no longer be counted as aid under Illegal Migration Act
18 Jul 2023
The government’s response to the aid watchdog has been mixed, with 58% of recommendations from recent reviews adequately addressed but most outstanding issues still not, a new report finds.
Read more on ICAI finds both positives and gaps in government response to 2021-22 reviews
13 Jul 2023
The UK government’s aid to China has fallen rapidly but there is limited transparency over where it is still being spent, a new report by the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) finds today (Thursday 13 July).
Read more on UK aid to China is falling rapidly but greater transparency is needed
