The UK government is currently undertaking a spending review. As part of this Anneliese Dodds, the Minister for Development at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), with fellow senior ministers across government, is looking at ways to strengthen the effectiveness of the UK’s aid spending . So, what is UK aid being spent on, how much of it is being channelled through non-FCDO departments , how is the UK’s aid changing, and what impact is it having? In order to answer these questions, and more, we need detailed, transparent data about UK aid.

Over the coming eight months Publish What You Fund will review the availability, accessibility and quality of information published by eight of the largest (non-FCDO) aid-spending departments, plus the cross-government Integrated Security Fund. Our aim is to objectively assess the transparency of the UK government departments and cross-government fund in relation to their aid spending, as well as to provide tailored advice to each department and fund on how to improve their aid transparency. Our findings will be published in October 2025. This review will build on a similar UK aid transparency review we completed in 2020.

The departments to be assessed are:

• The Home Office (HO)
• Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)
• Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG)
• Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ)
• Integrated Security Fund (ISF)
• Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
• Department for Education (DfE)
• Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT)
• Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)

The UK’s total ODA spend in 2023 was £15.3billion. Most of this was managed by the FCDO which spent £9.4 billion. The remaining government departments spent a total of £5.3billion in 2023. The Home Office accounted for over 50% of non-FCDO aid spending in 2023, much of it directed towards asylum support in the UK. The Department of Health and Social Care was the second-largest ODA spender among these departments, with its funding primarily supporting global health research innovation including antimicrobial resistance through the Fleming Fund. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government ranked third, allocating £466 million in 2023. Meanwhile, the Department for Energy, Security and Net Zero spent £440 million of the UK’s ODA budget in 2023, funding global initiatives in forestry sustainability, climate transition, and green energy and construction projects.

The UK’s aid transparency commitments

The UK has a track record of setting high targets for aid transparency through its commitments in UK policy, including the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy and the International Development Strategy. The FCDO was set the target of achieving a ‘very good’ score in Publish What You Fund’s Aid Transparency Index, which it achieved in 2024. As part of its Open Government Partnership 2024-25 National Action Plan, the UK government has committed to improving the transparency of non-FCDO departments. The FCDO has commissioned Publish What You Fund to conduct this review, seeking to build on the 2020 aid transparency review, to re-engage these departments and improve publishing practices. The FCDO will play a leading and co-ordinating role by sharing its expertise and convening working groups in UK government following its own aid transparency improvements in the 2024 Index.

The review

Our review will be guided by the Aid Transparency Index assessment approach but will not assign a final numeric score or ranking. We will instead survey departments’ open data and identify where improvements are needed. We will include some analysis of progress/improvements (or backsliding) since the 2020 review, where relevant. The process will involve engagement, data collection, feedback and an independent review. We will check the quality, quantity and accessibility of their aid data in six areas: Department organisational/ strategic documents; Basic information; Procurement; Results and impact; Financial data; Completeness and timeliness.

The nature and scale of aid spending by the departments in this review vary considerably, as does their experience and practice of open data publication. We are beginning this review with an engagement process to ensure our methodology provides an accurate and fair assessment of the UK’s aid transparency. We hope to provide clear advice and guidance on how each department can attain and sustain high levels of aid transparency – a goal that will benefit anyone wishing to understand how UK aid is spent, where it is going and how it can be most effective.