Written question asked by Emily Darlington (Labour) on Tuesday, 19 May 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 21 May 2026. It was answered by Chris Elmore (Labour) on Wednesday, 3 June 2026 on behalf of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

Development Aid

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the reduction of ODA Research and Development spend is proportionate to the reduction of overall ODA spend.

Answer: The Government has taken the difficult decision to reduce Official Development Assistance (ODA) to the equivalent of 0.3 per cent of Gross National Income (GNI) by 2027 to fund an essential increase in defence spending. ODA programme allocations reflect the decisions required to reprioritise in line with our new approach to development. As set out in Spending Review 2025 document- GOV.UK (table 4.2), ODA that is spent on Research and Development decreases as a share of the total UK ODA budget over the Spending Review period.

Secondary information