The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's aid transparency has been rated “very good” for the first time since its merger.
The department has added 11 points to its score in the Aid Transparency Index, an independent measure of transparency among the world's major development agencies.
The index is the only independent measure of global aid transparency and ranks the 50 major aid and development donor agencies based on their scores. The FCDO’s move from “good” to “very good” has pushed it up the ranks to joint 10th.
It comes after the UK’s independent aid watchdog raised concerns in 2022 about the UK’s transparency "decline" after the Foreign and Commonwealth Office absorbed the Department for International Development in 2020.
The department responsible for handling the majority of UK foreign aid dropped from a “very good” rating and ninth-ranked position in 2020 to “good” and a ranking of 16th in 2022 following the merger.
The Independent Commission on Aid Impact said in a report in 2022 that the fall in transparency risked “sending a signal that the UK’s commitment to excellence in development cooperation is waning”.
The ICAI noted that the merger had worsened the high levels of ODA transparency that had existed when DfID was a standalone department. DfID was given a “very good” score in each index between 2012 and 2020, always ranking in the top ten. The FCDO, on the other hand, had received “fair” and “poor” ratings in the index before the merger.
ICAI warned in the 2022 report: “DfID spearheaded efforts to increase transparency, helping to improve the value for money of UK aid and strengthen trust in the UK’s aid programme. But there is now concern that the transparency commitment has changed, and the presumption of disclosure has weakened. It is time for FCDO to build on a decade of UK efforts and aim for higher standards in aid transparency.”
The Aid Transparency Index said the FCDO has increased its scores in this year's index for the “publication of project conditions, its disaggregated country budget, organisation and country strategies, and other project reviews and evaluations”.
It said the FCDO benefited from its decision to set a clear target to score “very good” as recommended by ICAI. This goal was also included in the UK’s Open Government Partnership National Action Plan, and the 2023 International Development White Paper.
Asked how it has prioritised transparency, the department told the index: “Transparency with our partners and with the public is at the core of the FCDO’s approach to international development.
“We are committed to embedding transparency within our organisational culture, and have pledged publicly to the highest transparency standards, recognising that it is critical to achieving our objectives. This commitment is reflected across all areas of our organisation – from policy and strategy, to technical and programme teams – with our efforts led by a dedicated team.”
Reacting to the 2024 index report, Romilly Greenhill, chief executive of Bond, the UK network for NGOs, said: "We’re encouraged by FCDO’s improved rating on the Aid Transparency Index.
“Despite difficult years following the merger, budget cuts and capacity shortages, these improvements in transparency reflect the impact of strong senior-level commitment and the hard work of the FCDO transparency team.”
Greenhill said Bond hopes the new Labour government “maintains this commitment to improving transparency across all of government, especially as other departments and agencies with poor levels of transparency are increasingly spending the UK aid budget”.
The Home Office spent 28% of the UK's foreign aid budget in 2023 and 29% in 2022.