Policy paper

Independent Commission for Aid Impact's review of management of the Official Development Assistance spending target 2021 to 2025: UK government response

Published 24 April 2026

Recommendation 1

The UK should put in place a strategic, evidence-based, comprehensive and transparent approach to the allocation of ODA budgets across government departments, based on a viable framework for achieving long-term value for money.

Response: Accept

The Foreign Secretary, with advice from the Minister for International Development, is responsible for international development policy, working closely and in consultation with Number 10, Cabinet Office, HMT and other government departments. This includes the Foreign Secretary having recommended cross-government ODA allocations to the Chancellor as part of the 2025 Spending Review on the basis of alignment with cross-government strategic objectives and value for money

The Minister for International Development has policy oversight of the cross-government ODA budget and development portfolio, whilst the CST retains fiscal oversight of ODA spending. The Ministerial ODA Impact and Delivery Board ensures the coherence and strategic alignment of ODA spending across HMG.  

Departments report to the Ministerial ODA Impact and Delivery Board on the alignment of their delivery portfolios against cross-Government development priorities. The Board scrutinises portfolios at a thematic or geographic level to remove duplication and assess effectiveness, coherence, impact and efficiency. Its Terms of Reference were shared with the International Development Committee in February 2026. Data sharing on ODA performance and spending will underpin judgements on impact and delivery confidence, including through departments meeting established transparency requirements.

Recommendation 2

The UK should confirm a permanent end to FCDO’s role as spender and saver of last resort and ensure that any ODA spending target is no longer treated as both a ceiling and a floor.

Response: Accept

Spring Statement 2025 confirmed the following:

Financial year ODA Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) totals will not be adjusted for GNI fluctuations, to improve budget stability.

ODA budgets from 2025 to 2026 onwards over the Spending Review period are set in cash terms based on GNI in the Office for Budget Responsibility’s 2025 Spring Forecast. This means that ODA budgets will no longer be automatically adjusted upwards or downwards to meet a defined proportion of GNI, eliminating the ‘ceiling and floor’.

Spending Review 2025 further detailed an end to the FCDO’s role as spender and saver of last resort:

Moreover, the government has acted to improve budget stability for FCDO ODA to allow for better long-term planning of programming, essential to targeting spending and delivering value for money. FCDO’s budgets will no longer be automatically adjusted for GNI fluctuations or for unforeseen changes to the ODA budget, such as if asylum forecasts change.

ODA spending plans beyond the Spending Review period will be considered at future Spending Reviews.

Recommendation 3

The UK should take measures to increase the medium-term predictability of ODA allocations, for example by establishing multi-year rolling commitments.

Response: Accept

Spending Review 2025 (Table 5.12) set out 3 years of ODA programming allocations for each government department, reflecting a glide path to spending the equivalent of 0.3% of GNI by 2027.

On 19 March 2026, the FCDO – lead international development department and largest spender of ODA – published ODA programme allocations for the next 3 years, including regional and multilateral plans, in a Written Ministerial Statement (HCWS1425). This will provide the predictability required to manage the transition to spending the equivalent of 0.3% of GNI on ODA by 2027 effectively. All future plans are subject to revision as, by its nature, the department’s work is dynamic.

Recommendation 4

The UK should separate the allocation, management and public reporting of in donor refugee costs from other forms of ODA, in recognition of the distinct purpose and demand-driven nature of asylum support.

Response: Accept

ODA allocations to different government departments are separate. Each Department is responsible for the management of its own ODA allocation, though with policy oversight from the Minister for Development, through the Ministerial ODA Impact and Delivery Board. As previously noted, the FCDO is no longer spender and saver of last resort. As such fluctuations in in donor refugee costs (IDRC) will no longer affect FCDO ODA spend. IDRC are already reported as separate items in the UK’s official reporting, both through the OECD DAC and in the official Statistical Release, Statistics on International Development.

Recommendation 5

The UK should work with the OECD Development Assistance Committee and other OECD members to reduce the impact of different IDRC reporting practices on the coherence and comparability of international ODA statistics.

Response: Accept

We will continue to work through the OECD DAC Working Party on Statistics to improve the transparency, consistency, quality and timeliness of all ODA reporting including IDRC. The UK’s priority remains ensuring compliance and transparency of its own reporting.