The merger between DFID and the FCO and the implications for expenditure of Official Development Assistance (ODA) across government
On Thursday 9 July there will be an Estimates Day debate in the House of Commons Chamber on “The merger between DFID and the FCO and the implications for expenditure of Official Development Assistance (ODA) across government.” The debate will be led by Sarah Champion and Tom Tugendhat, the respective chairs of the International Development Committee and the Foreign Affairs Committee.
On 16 June 2020 the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, announced that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the Department for International Development (DfID) are to merge. The new department will be called the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
This new department will be responsible for the spending of both current departments. In the current set of Estimates, DfID plans a Resource DEL (day to-day spending) budget of £7,548.4 million in 2020-21, and a Capital DEL (investment budget) of £2,623.3 million. The FCO plans a Resource DEL (day-to-day spending) budget in 2020-21 of £2,755.8 million, and a Capital DEL (investment) budget of £101.8 million.
In 2019, the total aid budget was £15.2 billion. DfID spent 73% of this aid, with the FCO accounting for almost 4.5% and other departments making up the remainder.