Politics

Britain must get better value for foreign aid demands Priti Patel


The former international development secretary wants changes to the way overseas aid is used and warned that the UK needed to “raise its game” to gain public trust. Ms Patel endorsed a new report from the TaxPayers’ Alliance urging a shift in focus towards initiatives such as tackling drugs, and supporting private sector investment. The study suggests moving spending away from big international nongovernmental organisations to smaller charities from the UK instead.

The TaxPayers’ Alliance document advocates a more flexible way of spending the 0.7 per cent of gross national income the UK provides for international development per year to allow “for greater value for money and effectiveness”.

Ms Patel said: “I welcome the debate about Britain’s support for the poorest in the world and this TaxPayers’ Alliance report highlights a number of important issues facing Britain’s development system.

“Having held the international development portfolio, my approach of following the money, people and outcomes and a line-by-line review of every project to drive outcomes and value for money to support our national interest invigorated Department for International Development’s accountability and approach to development.

“I believe that as the world is changing fast, we need to raise our game to get the most out of every pound of taxpayers’ money and champion an open, modern and innovative approach to development ready for the challenges of the 21st century.”

Ms Patel backs retaining the 0.7 per cent GNI target for international development, and insists Brexit would allow the UK to enhance its role in overseas aid. She said: “We have a leadership role to play in the world and, actually, Brexit helps with that.”

The report called for a change in approach on how the UK spends its official development assistance, urging for it to be calculated according to the financial year rather than the calendar.

The report states: “This small measure would enable government departments to make better informed decisions when financial planning. “This wouldn’t be a miracle cure, but it would be a step in the right direction.”

But the report has been criticised by aid charities, with World Vision UK chief executive Tim Pilkington saying: “An anti-aid agenda is now becoming brazen within parts of Parliament. It is unacceptable for the world’s poorest to be used as a football in a Brexit-fed political power struggle.”

Romilly Greenhill, UK director at the ONE Campaign, said: “We know that the British public want all aid to be real aid which reaches the world’s poorest people.”

A DfID spokesman said: “The UK is shifting how it spends aid to ensure our investment benefits us all and is fully aligned with our national interest.

“All our work aims to reduce extreme poverty and we are continuing to push for reform to get the most out of the aid budget for the world’s poorest and UK taxpayers.”



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