Press releases

UK’s £11.6bn climate finance commitment at risk as aid resources stretched

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


Weak coordination and oversight limit effectiveness of £500m Blue Planet Fund

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


Brexit, COVID-19 and budget reductions put extraordinary pressure on UK aid since 2019

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


Home Office asylum costs could no longer be counted as aid under Illegal Migration Act

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




Government rejects watchdog’s recommendation for a cap on aid spent supporting refugees in the UK

11 Jul 2023

The government has rejected a recommendation from the aid watchdog for a cap on the proportion of the aid budget that can be spent on refugee costs in the UK. The official response to the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) rapid review of UK aid funding for refugees in the UK, which the government […]

Read more on Government rejects watchdog’s recommendation for a cap on aid spent supporting refugees in the UK





Sign up to our newsletter to receive notifications of our latest news and reports

Name
ICAI will use your personal data only to contact you about our work via email(Required)
You can find more information in our Privacy notice. Please check your Junk folder for a verification email to confirm your subscription.