Source · Select Committees · International Development Committee
Recommendation 10
10
Rejected
Require Government to return ODA spending to 0.5% GNI with a clear rebuilding schedule.
Recommendation
The Government must make every effort to return to spending 0.5% of GNI on ODA at a minimum, as soon as possible. The Government should produce a clear schedule for rebuilding aid from the interim level of 0.3%, with defined milestones in each Spending Review to provide certainty to the FCDO and partner countries and organisations. (Recommendation, Paragraph 38)
Government Response Summary
The government explicitly rejects the recommendation to return to 0.5% ODA, stating its commitment is to 0.7% when fiscal circumstances allow, and notes these conditions are not expected to be met within this Parliament.
Government Response
Rejected
HM Government
Rejected
Disagree. The Government is committed to returning to spending 0.7% of GNI on ODA as soon as fiscal circumstances allow, and when the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) fiscal forecast confirms that, on a sustainable basis, the UK is no longer borrowing for day-to-day spending and underlying debt is falling (the ODA fiscal tests). The government will continue to monitor future forecasts closely, and each year will review and confirm, in accordance with the International Development (Official Development Assistance Target) Act 2015, whether a return to spending 0.7% of GNI on ODA is possible against the latest fiscal forecast. The OBR’s latest forecast shows that the ODA fiscal tests are not due to be met within this Parliament.