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| Priti Patel warns aid organisations must provide value for money or face cuts Priti Patel warns aid organisations must provide value for money or face cuts | |
| (about 2 months later) | |
| UK funding to major multi-lateral organisations that deliver aid, such as the World Bank, could be cut unless they provide “value for money”, the international development secretary has said. | UK funding to major multi-lateral organisations that deliver aid, such as the World Bank, could be cut unless they provide “value for money”, the international development secretary has said. |
| Priti Patel was speaking on a trip to Kenya where she also indicated she wanted to use Britain’s £12bn aid budget to help deliver trade deals in the wake of Britain’s departure from the EU. | Priti Patel was speaking on a trip to Kenya where she also indicated she wanted to use Britain’s £12bn aid budget to help deliver trade deals in the wake of Britain’s departure from the EU. |
| Britain gives more than £4bn of its aid budget to global organisations including the EU and the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The Department for International Development (DfID) is preparing to publish a review of the work of such organisations. | Britain gives more than £4bn of its aid budget to global organisations including the EU and the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The Department for International Development (DfID) is preparing to publish a review of the work of such organisations. |
| “The government’s approach is focused on ensuring that we drive taxpayer value – so when it comes to multilateral organisations, focus on performance agreements,” Patel told the BBC. “If they are not performing, then obviously we’ll look at the contributions that we give to them. We need to be challenging.” | “The government’s approach is focused on ensuring that we drive taxpayer value – so when it comes to multilateral organisations, focus on performance agreements,” Patel told the BBC. “If they are not performing, then obviously we’ll look at the contributions that we give to them. We need to be challenging.” |
| Patel’s comments on trade come as wealthy donor countries debate the biggest changes to development aid in more than 40 years, and as the British government sketches out a new role for itself outside of the EU. Right-leaning media in Britain have also been waging a campaign to get the Conservative government to end what they regard as “wasteful” aid spending. | Patel’s comments on trade come as wealthy donor countries debate the biggest changes to development aid in more than 40 years, and as the British government sketches out a new role for itself outside of the EU. Right-leaning media in Britain have also been waging a campaign to get the Conservative government to end what they regard as “wasteful” aid spending. |
| Patel said that when it comes to free trade agreements, and life after Brexit, “British soft power is exactly where DfID and our aid and other relationships around the world come together to deliver in our national interest and deliver for Britain”. | Patel said that when it comes to free trade agreements, and life after Brexit, “British soft power is exactly where DfID and our aid and other relationships around the world come together to deliver in our national interest and deliver for Britain”. |
| One major obstacle to Patel’s ambitions is likely to be the ban on directly linking aid to trade – known as “tied aid” – introduced by Britain’s Labour government in 2001. | One major obstacle to Patel’s ambitions is likely to be the ban on directly linking aid to trade – known as “tied aid” – introduced by Britain’s Labour government in 2001. |
| However, changes being considered to OECD rules could yet result in a “massive increase” towards aid that supports the private sector. | However, changes being considered to OECD rules could yet result in a “massive increase” towards aid that supports the private sector. |
| According to a leaked official document seen by the Guardian, proposed reforms to official aid would allow a wide variety of “private sector instruments” to be used as vehicles for development, meaning that aid could be used to invest in, or give loans to, private companies. | According to a leaked official document seen by the Guardian, proposed reforms to official aid would allow a wide variety of “private sector instruments” to be used as vehicles for development, meaning that aid could be used to invest in, or give loans to, private companies. |
| Patel insisted that the focus of DfID under her watch would be on poverty reduction and sought to link the support for developing economies to strategies aimed at stemming migration and instability. | Patel insisted that the focus of DfID under her watch would be on poverty reduction and sought to link the support for developing economies to strategies aimed at stemming migration and instability. |
| On her trip to Mombasa, she launched a new Invest Africa programme designed to encourage at least £400m of foreign direct investment into the most productive sectors – such as manufacturing – and create 90,000 direct and indirect jobs in Kenya and its neighbours. | On her trip to Mombasa, she launched a new Invest Africa programme designed to encourage at least £400m of foreign direct investment into the most productive sectors – such as manufacturing – and create 90,000 direct and indirect jobs in Kenya and its neighbours. |
| Other pledges from Britain include spending £95m over the next four years to increase Kenya’s trade by £1.3bn through building on TradeMark East Africa, a programme that aims to facilitate commerce. | Other pledges from Britain include spending £95m over the next four years to increase Kenya’s trade by £1.3bn through building on TradeMark East Africa, a programme that aims to facilitate commerce. |
| “No country can defeat poverty without sustained economic growth and in Kenya I saw how UK support is creating job and trade opportunities for the many, not the few,” added Patel. | “No country can defeat poverty without sustained economic growth and in Kenya I saw how UK support is creating job and trade opportunities for the many, not the few,” added Patel. |
| However, she came under fire from opposition politicians at home and some aid campaigners. | However, she came under fire from opposition politicians at home and some aid campaigners. |
| Aisha Dodwell, of Global Justice Now, said: “Numerous reports and research, including one from the Independent Commission for Aid Impact, have raised very critical concerns about the UK’s growing tendency to spend aid money on partnerships with large corporations, which means that taxpayers’ money is often going to subsidise big business rather than helping vulnerable communities around the world. | Aisha Dodwell, of Global Justice Now, said: “Numerous reports and research, including one from the Independent Commission for Aid Impact, have raised very critical concerns about the UK’s growing tendency to spend aid money on partnerships with large corporations, which means that taxpayers’ money is often going to subsidise big business rather than helping vulnerable communities around the world. |
| “If Patel is committed to shutting down ‘wasteful’ aid programmes, then we’d welcome these sorts of partnerships [as] the first to get the chop.” | “If Patel is committed to shutting down ‘wasteful’ aid programmes, then we’d welcome these sorts of partnerships [as] the first to get the chop.” |
| Malcolm Bruce, a Liberal Democrat peer and former chair of the international development committee, said: “She can make these rhetorical speeches to please the right wing and aid sceptics, but the reality is that she is constrained both by UK law and international law, and the prime minister’s commitment that the UK would continue to spend 0.7% of gross national income on aid. | Malcolm Bruce, a Liberal Democrat peer and former chair of the international development committee, said: “She can make these rhetorical speeches to please the right wing and aid sceptics, but the reality is that she is constrained both by UK law and international law, and the prime minister’s commitment that the UK would continue to spend 0.7% of gross national income on aid. |
| “The definition of 0.7% has to meet internationally agreed criteria, and while we know there is some scope for change, what you cannot do under UK law and international law is to make a trade deal conditional on aid.” | “The definition of 0.7% has to meet internationally agreed criteria, and while we know there is some scope for change, what you cannot do under UK law and international law is to make a trade deal conditional on aid.” |