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File on 4: The Aid Business

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30/06/2015

The Aid Business

BBC Radio 4 - File on 4, The Aid Business

Are taxpayers getting value from Britain's £12 billion foreign aid budget?

With the UK's £12 billion foreign aid budget one of the few areas protected from cuts, how much money actually reaches people on the ground? Simon Cox investigates.

The UK's £12 billion pound foreign aid budget is one of the few areas of Government spending protected from cuts. The commitment to spend 0.7% of Britain's gross national income on aid means at least 60 billion pounds will be spent on overseas development in the next five years. Many of these projects are delivered by large companies that receive tens of millions of pounds from DFID (the Department for International Development). They can charge over a thousand pounds a day for a consultant and their directors earn six figure salaries but how effective are they are and the programmes they are paid to deliver? Simon Cox investigates the UK's aid industry and asks how taxpayers can know that they're getting value for money.
Reporter: Simon Cox Producer: Gail Champion.

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