Development Aid
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the decision not to automatically adjust UK Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) spending in line with economic conditions on ODA-funded programmes globally.
Answered by Stephen Doughty
Official Development Assistance (ODA) budgets from 2025/26 onwards are set in cash terms based on Gross National Income (GNI) forecasts. This change means the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's (FCDO's) ODA budgets will no longer be exposed to the volatility of ODA spending by other departments, including asylum costs.
As The Minister of State for International Development set out in her 27 March letter to the International Development Committee, this is a significant and positive change to the way the FCDO manages its ODA budget, increasing the predictability of our budgets and allowing us to plan with more certainty.
Departmental ODA allocations will be confirmed at the Spending Review.
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