Thank you for contacting me about UK spending on foreign aid, otherwise known as Official Development Assistance (ODA).
The UK has spent more than £10 billion in 2021/22 on its seven ODA priorities – climate change and biodiversity; global health security, including COVID-19; girls' education; responding to humanitarian crises; science and technology; resolving conflicts and defending open societies, including human rights; and promoting trade.
As one of the most generous aid donors in the G7, with a commitment considerably higher than the OECD average, and coupled with our expertise and convening power, the UK remains a development superpower. In 2020, the UK (spending £14.5 billion) was the third largest ODA donor in absolute terms, beaten only by the US (£27.7 billion) and Germany (£22.1 billion). In 2020, the only country which spent more on ODA than the UK in both absolute and proportional terms was Germany.
As you will be aware, the Commons voted not to restore the UK’s 0.7% foreign aid commitments and the UK’s aid expenditure will now continue at 0.5% of GDP. I did not vote with the Government on this issue as I supported the 0.7% foreign aid commitment. I believe that it is important to have a compassionate, global Britain at this time. I do, however, believe that aid spending should be sensibly used – for ending preventable deaths of mothers and under-fives, putting girls into school and tackling climate change, for example. I appreciate the difficult economic situation the UK finds itself in domestically, because of the pandemic, and why the Government and many across the House feel that this necessitates cutting back on our development commitments overseas. However, the amount saved by cutting aid spending to 0.5 per cent of GNI is a mere drop in the ocean compared with what the Government is currently borrowing and will do little to alleviate the current domestic economic crisis.
I have been assured that the UK will return to 0.7 per cent as soon as the fiscal situation allows, and am pleased that the Chancellor has provided a clear measure for this: (1) when we are not borrowing to support day-to-day spending; and (2) when underlying debt is falling. I think this is the most economically prudent way in which to return to satisfying the 0.7 per cent target in light of the prevailing circumstances.
On Ukraine, I would note that the UK has provided £220m in ODA in response to the crisis, second only to the US. This is in addition to a broad package of non-ODA support, economic and military.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.