Cabinet minister Justine Greening today vowed to squeeze every pound of value out of Britain’s overseas aid spending.
The former accountant has ordered a major tightening of financial controls at the International Development department. But she rebuffed calls from Tory MPs for the UK to ditch its pledge to raise spending on foreign aid to 0.7 per cent of GDP next year, arguing that supporting development is “not just the right thing to do but the smart thing to do”.
“I am determined to make sure the DFID budget is spent wisely,” she told delegates in Birmingham.
“We need to make sure that we can use every pound we spend to make the most difference on the ground.”
The Overseas Aid Secretary is now demanding that all programme spending decisions for £5 million or more, rather than £40 million and above, are sent to her desk for approval.
Ministers will also be given “greater oversight and control” over spending, as well as recruitment.
But she disappointed some Tories who have been arguing that the Government should not be spending more on overseas aid while imposing swingeing cuts in Britain. She said: “I want Britain and our development budget to be a real force for good in the world. So it’s right that next year, for the first time ever, it will be a Conservative-led government that meets the target for 0.7 per cent of national income to be spent on development.
“It is in all our interests for countries around the world to be stable and secure, to have educated and healthy populations, and to have growing economies.”
Tory MPs have questioned why Britain has poured millions of pounds of aid into India, which has its own space programme. Ms Greening said it was important to adapt relations with countries from “aid to trade” as they became more prosperous.
“Those are the discussions that I am having with the Indian government at the moment,” she added.
Eighteen countries, out of 54, had in the past 20 years moved from being classed as low income to middle income. She said: “I expect this challenge of moving from aid to trade will grow as more countries develop.”
The UK also needed to be quicker to stop funding bodies that are not delivering value for money in aid projects.
