THE UK Government has paused international aid payments other than in exceptional circumstances, it is understood, in a move experts say is likely to cost lives.
The Foreign Office has said it is “prioritising essential overseas aid funding” in light of a report in Bloomberg which claims all spending on projects not deemed critical to life or where a pause in payments would lead to higher costs later has been stopped.
The National has been told “departments have temporarily paused non-essential aid spending” because of extra costs associated with the Ukraine crisis and the Afghan resettlement scheme.
Sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told Bloomberg that the Foreign Office has severely cut back on its overseas development budget, blaming additional pressures caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Any payments above £1 million are barred unless they are going to projects deemed “critical to life”, the site reports, or unless pausing the payments would lead to extra costs down the line.
One source who spoke to Bloomberg also said that new contracts and activity linked to projects yet to start were also being paused.
Cutting overseas development funds would “almost certainly” cost lives, said the SNP’s international development spokesperson Chris Law.
He told The National: “The question really is: ‘What do you mean by non-critical?’
“Because lots of the things that have already been cut have cost lives.”
The new spending restrictions are in place until the new prime minister is installed on September 6, the site reports.
The move would deliver fresh pain to those reliant on UK cash for international projects after the overseas development budget was slashed from 0.7% of gross national income to 0.5%.
Law has called for the budget to be restored to its pre-pandemic level as well as criticising the decision to merge the former Department for International Development, formed in 1997, with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 2020.
Liz Truss is currently leading former chancellor Rishi Sunak, who pushed through the cut in response to the Covid pandemic, despite warnings the move would risk the futures of children and vulnerable people globally.
Action Against Hunger, a global humanitarian organisation, said in 2021 the decision to slash the aid budget put “more children’s lives at risk”.
At a debate on the Government’s international development strategy last month, Law said there was “no mention” of plans to improve food or nutrition programmes.
A UK Government spokesperson said: “The Government is currently prioritising essential overseas aid funding such as providing humanitarian support to the people of Ukraine.
“The UK has a long history of helping others in their hour of need and we are one of the largest aid spenders globally, above the OECD average.
“We remain committed to spending 0.5% of our gross national income on overseas aid and will return to 0.7% when the fiscal situation allows.”
