International Aid Budget

Summary

The requester asked for details on the International Aid Budget spend over the last five years and the status of any underspend. The Cabinet Office declined to send specific documents as the information is already publicly available in Annual Reports, but confirmed the annual budget amount and spending status in the response.

Key Facts

• The annual budget for International Development is £2.4 million and has been consistent since 2009/10.
• The budget was spent in full in every year except for 2015/16, which had a small underspend.
• The 2016/17 budget of £2.4 million was also fully spent.
• Underspend or uncommitted funds are carried forward to the following financial year under Treasury oversight.
• Detailed expenditure data is available in the International Development Annual Reports on the government website.

Data Disclosed

• £2.4 million
• 2009/10
• 2015/16
• 2016/17
• 3 December 2017
• 22 February 2018

Exemptions Cited

• Section 20 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015 (Information reasonably accessible)

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

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REFERENCE NUMBER: IM112372I

REQUEST UNDER THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2015 (“the Act”) Thank you for your request of 3 December 2017 for the following information: “What is the actual spend of the International Aid Budget in the last five years. And can you tell me if there was an underspend, if so can you please tell me where has the under-spend been kept ? and is it ring fenced for International Aid ? or has it been spent elsewhere?” Response to your request
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, under section 20 of the Act, we are not required to provide information in response to a request if it is already reasonably accessible to you, whether free of charge or on payment of a fee.
All of the information that you have requested is available in the International Development Annual Reports published by the Cabinet Office. The Annual Reports give full details of how International Development funds are spent each year. These Annual Reports are available on the the following webage: www.gov.im/about-the-government/departments/cabinet-office/international- development/annual-reports/. The Annual Report for 2016/17 is due to be published imminently.
In order to provide advice and assistance, as required by the Freedom of Information Act 2015, we can confirm that the annual budget for International Development is £2.4 million and has been since 2009/10. As identified in the Annual Reports, this budget has been spent in full in each year, with the exception of 2015/16 when there was a small amount of underspend. Whilst the Annual Report for 2016/17 has not been published, we can confirm that the annual budget of £2.4 million for that year was fully spent also. In each financial year, the actual amount expended may fluctuate due to payments being staggered or delayed and so it is usually necessary to carry forward an element of expenditure committed, but not yet paid out, over to the following financial year. This accepted practice is overseen by Treasury. Therefore, the above information, and that contained in the annual reports, reflect expenditure that was committed during each financial year.
Your right to request a review If you are unhappy with this response to your Freedom of Information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it

Government Office DOUGLAS Isle of Man IM1 3PN Tel: (+44) 01624 686244 Fax: (+44) 01624 685710 Website www.gov.im/co
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electronically or by delivery/post to the FOI Co-ordinator, Cabinet Office, Government Office, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM1 3PN. An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website https://www.gov.im/foireview. If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact us and we will be happy to arrange for this.
Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded. If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to apply for a review of decisions by the Information Commissioner, for a decision on; 1) Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or
2) Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested. In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision.
More detailed information on your rights to review is on the Information Commissioner’s website at: https://www.inforights.im/ Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Further information about Freedom of Information requests can be found at: www.gov.im/foi.