How we send our ‘ British expertise’ around the globe

THE Daily Express yesterday challenged all major Government departments to give an account of where foreign aid money goes.

Only fi ve had responded as we went to press – but we found an audit chronicling how some of your cash is spent.

HM Revenue and Customs spent £ 9million last year helping tax authorities in developing countries improve their tax administration and collection, despite stinging criticism of its UK operation.

Both the Home Offi ce, which spent £ 362million, and the Department for Work and Pensions (£ 10million) ploughed money into a plan to resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees from camps in the Middle East by 2020. In March we told how a £ 600,000, six- bed property near Sevenoaks, Kent, was handed to a refugee family who had jumped to the front of the council waiting list.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Offi ce (£ 512million) said it funded projects including an employment bureau in Sierra Leone for people with disabilities, adding that investment aid is “something Britain can be proud of”.

Documents also show millions of pounds of Treasury money is tied up in The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, set up in 2015 to support fi nancing for projects across Asia.

The Ministry of Defence which spent £ 5million said the cash went on projects “to help with peace and security overseas, helping make Britain safer at home”.

And the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (£ 67million) said it spent money on projects to restore forests, support biodiversity and tackle illegal hunting.

We did not hear back from the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (£ 687million).