Are our aid millions being wasted? No one has got a clue, MPs admit
HUNDREDS of millions of pounds in foreign aid may be being wasted because nobody is keeping track of how effectively the money is being spent, a damning report claims.
MPs on the Commons public administration committee said not enough was being done to ensure the £1 billion-ayear aid budget was going to ‘value for money’ projects.
They warned that a No Deal Brexit could result in even more waste because ministers would have to rush to decide where to redirect £1. billion of aid currently distributed via the EU.
And they expressed concerns over moves to give more ministries, not just the Department for International Development, the power to spend parts of the foreign aid budget – officially known as Overseas Development Assistance or ODA. The report noted that ‘gaps in
departments’ information mean they cannot always assess the performance of their ODA-funded programmes’.
It singled out the £735million Newton Fund, launched in 201 to finance academics to tackle poverty. It said ‘funding was doubled despite a weak understanding of how funds had been spent.’ ÷ Boris Johnson attacked Jeremy Corbyn over his support for Venezuela’s socialist dictatorship – as he announced £30million in aid for the country, which is gripped by shortages and hyper-inflation under leader Nicolas Maduro. Mr Johnson said: ‘Labour would actually be supporting the Maduro regime rather than trying to alleviate the consequences of that regime’s actions.’
onLy yesterday the Mail applauded ministers for – finally! – showing a smidgen of common sense over foreign-aid spending.
Boris Johnson said uK scientists could use a chunk of the £14billion-a-year budget to tackle climate change in the Third World.
About time too! For as MPs reveal today, the International Development department, mired in imbecilic dogma, often squanders vast sums – lining tyrants’ pockets or backing pointless vanity projects.
Rather than return any excess to the Treasury, it must be frittered away overseas to meet the ludicrous pledge to spend 0.7 per cent of gDP on aid. When our public services are crying out for funds, such mindless largesse can’t continue.