Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department is taking steps to reinstate the overseas aid budget to 0.7 per cent of Gross National Income; and with reference to her Department’s Annual Report and Accounts 2021-22, HC 493, published on 19 July 2022, for what reason the budget set out in that report is based on 0.5 per cent of Gross National Income for the next three years, in the context of alternative projections (a) in the report entitled Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021, published on 27 October 2021, and (b) by the Office for Budget Responsibility for meeting the fiscal tests in the 2023-24 financial year.

The Government committed to Parliament to return to spending 0.7% of Gross National Income (GNI) on Official Developmental Assistance (ODA) when on a sustainable basis the government is not borrowing for day-to-day spending and underlying debt is falling.

At the 2021 Spending Review, the Government set ODA budgets accordingly, and reiterated its commitment to review and confirm each year, 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. In line with this approach, and noting the current macroeconomic and fiscal uncertainty, the Government will determine whether the ODA fiscal tests will be met for 2023-24 at Budget 2022.