ICAI chief commissioner Dr Tamsyn Barton said: “The past four years of this commission have been a turbulent time for the aid programme, with the disruptive merger of DFID and FCO coming at a time when Whitehall was already under extreme pressure managing the impact of the pandemic and successive sharp reductions to the budget.
“Coming alongside ongoing cuts to the UK aid budget, it has broadly undermined the UK’s international standing and the impact of UK aid spending. “The UK Government needs to strengthen its engagement with local communities and work long-term with partner countries to truly restore its reputation as a global partner in development. We would also like to see a credible plan to return UK aid spending to 0.7% of GNI.”