Bond reaction to new UK aid spending transparency report

Today, Thursday 23rd October, a new assessment from Publish What You Fund finds that, while transparency of aid spending across UK government departments has mostly improved since the last review in 2020, the Home Office has become less transparent about its aid spending over the last five years – despite spending £2.3 billion of the UK’s aid budget in 2024. 

The report, ‘Progress and Gaps: Transparency of UK Aid Beyond the FCDO’, provides a tailored assessment of the transparency of Official Development Assistance (ODA) spending by nine UK government departments, other than the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). An increasing share of the UK‘s £14 billion ODA budget is being managed by non-FCDO departments: the nine departments examined in the review spent 30% of the UK’s ODA budget in 2024, 62% of which was spent on in-donor refugee costs.

The review found that:

• Eight departments assessed, including DEFRA, DWP and DHSC, maintained their level of transparency or made significant gains publishing new or larger amounts of data. 
• However, the Home Office was the only department to show a decline in its aid transparency, publishing less data in 2024 than in 2020. It made no 2024/25 updates and published no forward-looking activities. The Home Office is the second largest spender of ODA (after the FCDO), 99% of which is spent on in-donor refugee costs, though it does also provide some international aid.

The Publish What You Fund review calls on departments spending ODA internationally to publish more procurement and results data, and impact evaluations. Results and impact data helps stakeholders to understand if and how aid is effective and increases public trust. The report also recommends that the UK government should do more to enable and promote the publication of forward-looking budgets and procurement information for domestic ODA spending.

In reaction to the UK aid spending transparency review, Romilly Greenhill, CEO of Bond, the UK network of NGOs, said: 

“This review rightly highlights the need for transparency of UK aid spending. As the UK aid budget shrinks over the coming years, high levels of transparency from the different departments spending it will be essential, both for ensuring UK aid reaches and supports the communities that need it most, and to build public trust. 

That is why the report’s finding that the Home Office has become less transparent about the UK aid it spends in recent years is deeply troubling. As the second largest spender of UK aid, it’s unacceptable that this department is the only one to show declining transparency. 

We urge the Home Office to urgently address these transparency gaps, including publishing forward-looking budgets.”

ENDS.  

Notes for editors

1. The report can be downloaded here. For information on the report, please contact Sam Cavenett at [email protected]
2. Publish What You Fund is the global campaign for aid and development transparency. Since 2008, they have worked with governments, donors, and civil society to make aid and development data more transparent, usable and impactful.
3. Bond unites and supports a diverse network of over 350 civil society organisations from across the UK, and allies to help eradicate global poverty, inequality and injustice. 
4. For further information or interviews, please get in touch with Emily Loynes at [email protected] or 07909947850.