£1.2bn more spent on aid last year than in 2015

Britain spent £1.2billion more on aid last year than in 2015, official figures show. And the aid budget grew to £13.4billion as it is fixed in law as 0.7 per cent of gross national income.

Figures show that the proportion of the aid budget spent by ministers outside the Department for International Development (DFID) rose by almost 50 per cent. The department’s final spend statistics said 73.8 per cent of UK overseas development help went through DFID in 2016. The amount of aid spent outside DFID has risen dramatically – by almost 200 per cent – since 2012.