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Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: International Development Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215556240
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 92
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Book Description
In the 2010 Comprehensive Spending Review the Coalition Government announced its decision to achieve the internationally agreed target of providing 0.7 percent of Gross National Income as ODA from 2013. This will involve spending an additional 2.5 billion pounds in 2013-14 to make the total DFID budget 11.3 billion pounds in that year. There will be a large increase in spending on fragile and conflict affected states and it will be difficult to ensure that every pound is well spent in such war-torn environments. When scrutinising DFID's accounts the MPs were also surprised to discover that the Pope's visit was paid for in part by money supposed to be for overseas development aid (ODA). The Committee expects a response from the Government as to what the £1.85 million, transferred to the Foreign Office for the papal visit, was spent on and an explanation as to how this was ODA compliant. The Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) announced reductions in DFID's running costs to 2% of the total budget. If achieved, this would make DFID the most cost-efficient development organisation in the world.This is to be achieved by a large reduction in back office administration costs (which excludes front-line staff) of £34 million over the CSR period. The International Development Committee supports the proposals to make savings in back office staff, but the MPs are warning that Ministers must ensure that reduced administration budgets do not affect the ability to deliver aid programmes on the ground. While declining as a share of total costs, running costs will increase in real terms over the next four years because the total budget will rise so much.
Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: International Development Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215556240
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 92
Get Book Here
Book Description
In the 2010 Comprehensive Spending Review the Coalition Government announced its decision to achieve the internationally agreed target of providing 0.7 percent of Gross National Income as ODA from 2013. This will involve spending an additional 2.5 billion pounds in 2013-14 to make the total DFID budget 11.3 billion pounds in that year. There will be a large increase in spending on fragile and conflict affected states and it will be difficult to ensure that every pound is well spent in such war-torn environments. When scrutinising DFID's accounts the MPs were also surprised to discover that the Pope's visit was paid for in part by money supposed to be for overseas development aid (ODA). The Committee expects a response from the Government as to what the £1.85 million, transferred to the Foreign Office for the papal visit, was spent on and an explanation as to how this was ODA compliant. The Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) announced reductions in DFID's running costs to 2% of the total budget. If achieved, this would make DFID the most cost-efficient development organisation in the world.This is to be achieved by a large reduction in back office administration costs (which excludes front-line staff) of £34 million over the CSR period. The International Development Committee supports the proposals to make savings in back office staff, but the MPs are warning that Ministers must ensure that reduced administration budgets do not affect the ability to deliver aid programmes on the ground. While declining as a share of total costs, running costs will increase in real terms over the next four years because the total budget will rise so much.
Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: International Development Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215042910
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 76
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Book Description
While DFID's total budget is increasing, the Department will both restrict operating costs to 2% by 2014-15 and reduce its administrative costs by a third in real terms, from £128 million in 2010-11 to £94 million by 2014-15. This report warns that capping operational costs and staff numbers may not reduce overall costs or improve effective delivery of development assistance. The International Development Committee also raises concerns that cost pressures are driving DFID to use consultants to deliver its programmes, rather than in-house expertise. The Department spends £450 million on technical cooperation per year. Much of this is good work, yet it was unclear exactly what this money was spent on, or how effective it was and the extent to which external providers were used. DFID needs to improve its assessment of which projects and services it should use consultants for; and assess more carefully the use of consultants to manage the Department's own delivery programmes. In its efforts to reduce administrative spending DFID might be 'exporting' these costs to other organisations, including NGOs and multilateral aid organisations, with higher real administration costs. The Department should assess the best and most effective way to deliver development assistance as it may be able to do it more cheaply and effectively than external organisations. The report recommends that the Department improves its tracking of and reporting on the total cost of administering its aid programme with the aim of quantifying how much aid actually ends up reaching recipients.
Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: International Development Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215561596
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 164
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Book Description
The International Development Committee reports that DFID can be proud of much of the work it does to build infrastructure in developing countries - on which the Department spends £1 billion annually. But it calls on Ministers to improve monitoring of infrastructure spending through multilateral organisations, such as the EU, World Bank and African Development Bank. The UK should also insist on provisions in large multilateral infrastructure projects which require local capacity building in order to boost local employment and the private sector with developing countries. The MPs also raise concerns that infrastructure construction in developing countries is particularly prone to corruption. The report points to DFID's success in helping to establish the Construction Sector Transparency Initiative (CoST) to counter corruption, which has proved effective and is to be transferred to the World Bank. DFID should continue to provide the funding and staff time to ensure that CoST can build on the successes of its pilot phase. DFID should publish a departmental strategy on infrastructure. This would help DFID clearly to convey its rationale and priorities within the sector, emphasising that DFID funding is directed to the Department's key priorities within the sector, including the need to build local capacity, implement road safety measures and ensure the use of technologies appropriate to the needs of developing countries. Far more private money is needed to finance large infrastructure projects, and DFID has done well in helping leverage private funding through initiatives such as the Private Infrastructure Development Group.
Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: International Development Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215038845
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 72
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Book Description
MPs on the International Development Committee have called on the Government of Tanzania to bring individuals to court to answer allegations that corrupt payments were made during the sale of an air traffic control system by BAE Systems. The Select Committee successfully pressured BAE Systems in the summer to honour its agreement with the Serious Fraud Office and make a full transfer instead of phased payments of £29.5 million. The Committee believes it is essential that all those involved in financial crime are dealt with appropriately, and that where there is a case to answer individuals are brought before the courts. The Committee welcomes the Government of Tanzania's plans to bring individuals before the courts. The Committee recommends that future settlements made by the Serious Fraud Office - as a result of plea bargaining in relation to financial crimes - should be drawn much more tightly than the agreement concluded with BAE. Future settlement agreements should be explicit about what the company is required to do and by when. The report raises concerns that the payment for the 'benefit of the people of Tanzania' remained outstanding more than eight months after the Court hearing and that BAE Systems envisaged spreading payment over a period of years, describing the payments as 'our money'. After pressure from the Committee, BAE has now agreed to make the £29.5 million payment to the Government of Tanzania to provide textbooks and school equipment. DFID is finalising the necessary arrangements for the procurement and delivery and the International Development Committee has pledged to monitor how the money is spent and help ensure that the funds are used for the benefit of the people of Tanzania. The report also recommends that the Government publish an annual Anti-Corruption Report listing what the Government is doing to combat international corruption, including transnational financial crimes.
Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: International Development Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215560032
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 182
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Book Description
The test of whether the UK should continue to give aid to India is whether that aid makes a distinctive contribution to poverty reduction. The Government of India has primary responsibility for this and has already reduced poverty levels from 60 percent in 1981 to 42 percent in 2005. But whilst the economy is growing there are large pockets of poverty that still remain. The DFID plans to change some of its programme, focusing primarily on three of the poorest states, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa, also changing the sectors it prioritises and putting 50 percent of its budget through the private sector by 2015.The Committee supports the focus on the poorest states but provided it is supported by the Government of India. They recommend supporting in particular sanitation, malnutrition, maternal and child health and social exclusion. The Committee supports the Government's aim to forge a new enhanced partnership with India with its mutual benefits from cooperation in trade and investment but the DFID must ensure UK Government policies help protect the poorest and reduce inequalities. The Committee assuming that over the next four years as India continues to grow at current rates it will have increased its capacity to tackle poverty and meet the millennium development goals. DFID should continue to provide technical assistance where requested but the funding mechanism should change by 2015.
Author: A. Ware
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137347635
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 351
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Book Description
This edited volume explores development in the so-called 'fragile', 'failed' and 'pariah' states. It examines the literature on both fragile states and their development, and offers eleven case studies on countries ranking in the 'very high alert' and 'very high warning' categories in the Fund for Peace Failed States Index.
Author: Stephen Brown
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137568828
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 287
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Book Description
Security concerns increasingly influence foreign aid: how Western countries give aid, to whom and why. With contributions from experts in the field, this book examines the impact of security issues on six of the world's largest aid donors, as well as on key crosscutting issues such as gender equality and climate change.
Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: International Development Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 0215071751
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 48
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Book Description
This report is the International Development Committee's annual review of UK aid programmes and the administration of the Department for International Development (DFID). The Committee finds that field work overseas should be given greater priority and Ministers must explain UK spending on humanitarian projects more clearly. DFID should not provide funds to support disasters in middle income countries by raiding bilateral development programmes in low income countries. Other wealthy OECD countries must play their part in providing humanitarian assistance. DFID should set out annually its provisional budget for humanitarian relief, what is held as contingencies for unpredictable events and how it will be deployed if not called upon. There has also been a decline in DFID's spending on budget support, the consequences of which should be assessed. £1,075 million of DFID's bilateral expenditure is spent through multilaterals and private contractors. DFID has put in place a number of changes to improve the value for money provided by spending through and should report on their effectiveness. The Committee is also worried that the Department actually spends 40% of its budget in the last two months of the year, which raises questions about the smooth running of management and planning processes. DFID staff should have longer postings overseas (normally a minimum of four years) so that they can develop a deeper understanding of the culture and politics of the country they are working in and engage more effectively with the country's politicians.
Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: International Development Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215053183
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 86
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Book Description
About two-thirds of DFID's expenditure in 2011-12, including nearly 40% of its bilateral spending, went through multilateral organisations even though they have higher administrative costs. This represents a major change in recent years and has been accompanied by a decline in direct aid to recipient Governments. DFID argues that the change is not a reflection of its need to spend money quickly, but a result of the reduced need for budget support in countries with rising tax bases and improved financial management, as well as its focus on fragile states. The DFID needs to ensure that it has thoroughly examined other options such as greater use of local NGOs and sector budget support. DFID has switched expenditure from low income to middle income countries, in part because several countries with a large number of poor people have recently graduated to middle-income status. Policy towards middle income countries varies and DFID needs establish and make public the criteria it will use to inform decisions of when and how it should cease to provide aid. DFID should also consider establishing a Development Bank - that could offer concessional loans alongside grant aid and would free from the constraint of having to ensure that cash was spent by the end of the financial year. Staffing also may still not be sufficient to oversee the huge expenditure of UK taxpayers' money undertaken by multilaterals. MPs remain concerned that DFID's has ended its bilateral programme in one of the world's poorest countries, Burundi, and is urging the new Secretary of State to re-instate it.
Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: International Development Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215040565
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 116
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Book Description
The International Development Committee reports that private philanthropy is improving the lives of some of the world's poorest people, but the Department for International Development (DFID) must do more to engage private foundations in coordinated global efforts to improve the effectiveness of aid. While private foundations make a huge contribution, concerns have been raised about the transparency and accountability. Foundations should sign up to International Aid Transparency Initiative guidelines and be brought into global structures to ensure that they coordinate their work with other donors. DFID currently engages with foundations on an ad-hoc basis and the report recommends a more systematic approach to the Department's relationship with private philanthropic organisations. The Committee recognises that DFID officials cannot meet all small foundations on a one-to-one basis, but it believes that the Department should make more efforts to engage with them. A designated contact official for foundations should be established and a DFID minister should hold an annual meeting with groups of smaller foundations. The Department should produce a publication indicating what DFID funding foundations might apply for, and how to apply. DFID should include foundations as fully as possible in future development events and processes, including the High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness; the forthcoming Rio + 20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development; and discussions of a post-2015 Millennium Development Goal Framework.
