One of only two departments with protected budgets, DfID is in a happy position – but international development secretary Andrew Mitchell will still bring reform, finds Ben Willis.
Though DfID faces the same pressures as other parts of Whitehall to cut back on staff and internal costs, its overseas aid programme is one of only two areas of government spending – along with the NHS – to enjoy a ring-fenced budget.
Because of what international development secretary Andrew Mitchell has acknowledged as this “privileged position”, DfID’s main focus so far under the new administration has been to instigate measures designed to assure UK taxpayers that the roughly one per cent of their taxes spent on foreign aid is being put to good use.
One key development has been the launch of a new watchdog to scrutinise UK aid and ensure value for money. According to a department spokesman, in order to maintain independence the watchdog will report to the Commons international development select committee rather than to the department itself.
Mitchell has also ordered two major reviews that will feed into October’s spending review. One, on bilateral aid, will look at the 102 countries to which the UK gives direct assistance and weigh up whether that aid is still required (DfID has already announced the closure of its programmes in China and Russia). Meanwhile, a multilateral aid review will look at the results achieved by the UK’s funding of international bodies such as the UN, European Commission and World Bank.
Another major part of DfID’s work in future, adds the spokesman, will be enhanced collaboration with other government departments to ensure British aid supports overseas interests. A key development has been the establishment of the National Security Council in the Cabinet Office, on which Mitchell has a permanent seat alongside cabinet ministers from the Foreign Office, Home Office, Ministry of Defence, Cabinet Office and others. “This has brought a welcome degree of rigour and structure to interdepartmental working,” the spokesman says.
The ministerial team
Presiding over a ministerial team with a strong private sector pedigree, secretary of state Andrew Mitchell himself brings solid business credentials to his role: he used to work for merchant bank Lazard, where he represented British firms overseas. His experience in assessing the value for money of international investments is bound to prove useful at his new department, as is his experience scrutinising overseas aid: he’s shadowed DfID for more than four years.
“He’s probably the best-prepared international development secretary we’ve ever had,” says Alison Evans, director of think tank the Overseas Development Institute, adding that Mitchell “has already engaged thoroughly on the agenda, which means that now it’s about moving forward and not about spending a huge amount of time trying to get a secretary of state up to speed on the issues. That is unusual.”
Just down the corridor in DfID’s Victoria HQ is the office of international development minister Alan Duncan, where the overseas art has been ditched in favour of a giant Union Jack, a large photo of Duncan and Mrs Thatcher at his 50th birthday, and a velvet drape bearing the royal coat of arms. A close ally – and former press secretary – of foreign secretary William Hague, Duncan has previously held briefs on international development and trade and industry on the Tory front bench, and was leader of the Commons. However, he was demoted last year after being secretly recorded bemoaning in graphic terms the treatment of MPs following the expenses scandal.
Stephen O’Brien, parliamentary under-secretary for international development, has been a Tory whip as well as shadowing a number of briefs, including industry and skills. He has also chaired all-party groups on malaria and Tanzania, and been vice-chair of the all-party aid, trade and debt group.