Taxpayer cash handed to firms spending our foreign aid budget doubled in past five years
Officials are failing to carry out checks on private contractors benefiting from Britain’s bloated aid budget
TAXPAYER cash handed to firms spending our bloated foreign aid budget has more than doubled in the last five years, a damning report has found.
The Commons International Development Committee said officials were failing to carry out checks on private contractors benefiting from Britain’s overseas aid budget, which has soared to more than £12billion a year.
It demanded a “more robust approach” from the Department for International Development (DFID) and to step up efforts to tackle the “appalling conduct” of some of the firms who deliver UK aid to the world’s poorest.
Since 2011 the department has increased the cash it gives private contractors from £540million to £1.34billion.
MPs identified “fundamental flaws” in the working practices of some of the organisations responsible for handling tens of millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money. The rates private contractors charge to spend Britain’s foreign aid budget are higher than other donors, the study found.
The report follows damaging revelations that bosses at Adam Smith International (ASI) - one of the biggest recipients of our £12billion a year foreign aid budget - sexed up reviews of its overseas work in order to get more money.
But the committee warned that ASI should not be treated as an “isolated case”.
Chair of the committee Stephen Twigg said: “We are also greatly concerned about the appalling conduct of some contractors who have behaved in a way that is entirely misaligned with the department’s purpose.
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“We have heard that there are fundamental flaws in the working practices of some organisations.
“The allegations made of ASI should not be approached as an isolated incident by Dfid, but as evidence that there is something inherently wrong with the culture in certain organisations.
“Dfid needs to take a more robust approach in creating regulations and incentives that shape the sector so that it operates to the highest ethical standards.”
International Development Secretary Priti Patel has launched a “far-reaching review” on the“excessive profiteering” and “unethical conduct” of some contractors. She has written to all suppliers setting out new higher standards.
A government source said one contractor had already been ordered to overhaul the way it conducts itself.
The insider said: “Make no mistake; we are only getting started in overhauling how suppliers work with DfID.”