Departments increasingly use aid money for research

The business and health departments spent much more on Official Development Assistance in 2018 than in 2017, as a result of increased expenditure on research.

Provisional government figures show that in 2018, the Department of Health and Social Care spent £195 million on ODA, almost double what it spent in 2017. “This primarily reflects increased funding to develop new vaccines for diseases with epidemic potential and health research for the main benefit of patients and the public in low and middle-income countries,” said the Department for International Development in its report. 

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy increased its ODA spending to £849m in 2018, an increase of £84m, or 11 per cent, on 2017. This is mainly used to tackle climate change and support research and innovation in developing countries, the report said.