The UK aid response to COVID-19
This review examines the prioritisation and redirection of UK aid in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
International Development Committee
A hearing is held by Parliament’s International Development Committee (IDC) or their ICAI sub-committee for most ICAI reviews.
The IDC hearing for this review took place in April 2022. Watch the IDC hearing online.
ICAI follow-up
Approximately one year after we publish our reports, we follow up on the steps the government has taken in response to our recommendations. This process is a key link in the accountability chain, providing Parliament and the public with an account of how well government departments have responded to ICAI reviews.
During our follow-up of this review, we found that the UK had effectively pivoted its work on vaccines to focus on supporting vaccine supply chains, local production and capacity for rollout, including through engagement with the GAVI Alliance. However, there was little evidence of a move towards greater delegation for local specialist staff, and FCDO’s revised drawdown policy does not allow for consideration of individual staff preferences to remain in post in the case of future drawdowns.
We therefore judge the government’s response to this review to be inadequate, but we will not return to this review next year, and will instead use the follow-up to our review of The FCDO’s Programme Operating Framework to assess progress on addressing relevant challenges relating to delegation.
Read the follow-up review online or download the summary follow-up report.