Budget 2021: Foreign aid cuts to remain until at least 2024 - Sunak

Cuts to foreign aid spending will stay in place until at least 2024-25, Chancellor Rishi Sunak has said.

Last year the government broke an election pledge when it cut spending to 0.5% of national income, blaming the economic pressures of Covid.

During his Budget, Mr Sunak said forecasts suggested the cut could be reversed in three years.

WaterAid said this would mean three more years of dirty water and infant mortalities in vulnerable communities.

And Bond - a network of international development organisations - accused the government of "accountancy trickery" for using the aid budget to pay for excess vaccine doses, debt relief and Special Drawing Rights - a term for complex currency handouts from the International Monetary Fund.

Last week, senior government climate change advisers expressed concern over the Treasury's efforts to broaden the definition of what is included in overseas aid.

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The promise to spend at least 0.7% of the country's income on international aid became a legal requirement in 2015.

In the last general election, the Conservatives told voters it would continue to maintain the spending levels.

However in 2020, the government announced it would cut the aid budget from 0.7% to 0.5% of GDP.

'Development superpower'

Defending the reduction, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the government had spent £407bn during the pandemic and that "there must inevitably be consequences".

The Treasury said it would return to 0.7% levels, but only when its official figures forecast two things.

Firstly, that the government wouldn't be borrowing money for day-to-day spending.

And secondly, that underlying debt would be falling as a percentage of national income.

Setting out his Budget, Mr Sunak said "forecasts show that we are scheduled to return to 0.7% in 2024-25 - before the end of the Parliament".

He said the UK would "remain a development superpower and one of the largest ODA [Overseas Development Assistance] donors in the G7".

The footnotes of the Budget tell the real story about overseas aid.

The chancellor is not promising to increase the spending target to 0.7 percent of national income in 2024.

He is merely saying it might be possible by then.

The so-called 'fiscal tests' are flexible to say the least.

The Budget paperwork makes very clear that "should future forecasts deteriorate", then any decisions about the aid target will be made at the time.

The chancellor also fails to note that by 2024, there may well be a different government with different priorities.

And in the intervening years, there is a growing debate not just about the size of the aid budget but also what it is spent on.

The Budget documents seem to imply - without being explicit - that the Chancellor will start counting different spending streams towards the 0.5% of the foreign aid target.

We await clarity from the Treasury but this could include the cost of overseas vaccine donations and special currency reserve handouts from the International Monetary Fund.

Charities fear that this will mean that several billion pounds less will be spent on humanitarian and development aid.

So the headline from the Budget is that the UK's billion pound aid cuts will continue for at least another three years and in the meantime much less may well be spent on development and humanitarian support than before.

Responding to this announcement, Green MP Caroline Lucas tweeted: "Is Rishi Sunak really expecting praise for returning to 0.7% GDP for development aid by 2024/5? This is still utterly shameful. The cut should be reversed now."

Labour's Sarah Champion - who chairs the International Development Committee - said it was "good news" but added: "I'll celebrate when the poorest in the world start seeing the cash."

'The backs of the poorest'

Children's charity World Vision UK said it was "pleased to see" the chancellor's intention but expressed concern levels would not rise for at least three years.

Meanwhile WaterAid warned that: "Ten million people will miss out every year until the budget is restored.

"The chancellor's delay on restoration means three more years of dirty water, further infant mortality and the wider spread of disease for millions in vulnerable communities."

Stephanie Draper, CEO of Bond, accused the government of "once again balancing the books on the backs of the poorest and jeopardising trust in the UK around the world".

"This makes the UK's standing in addressing global inequality even more questionable, whilst severely undermining crucial COP26 negotiations."

Save the Children said any decision to include other costs in the aid budget meant existing aid programmes faced cuts of around £3.6bn.