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What today’s Autumn Budget means for the future of UK aid
Today’s Budget brought no change to the UK’s ongoing plan to drastically cut aid spending for people facing some of the worst crises, and no mention of how the government will restore funding to 0.7% of Gross National Income (GNI). That leaves a fundamental question unanswered: what is Andy Burnham’s plan for UK aid?
This matters because the impact of aid cuts is already being felt by people living in extreme poverty worldwide. Concern and other organisations have had to make difficult decisions about what we can fund and who we can support, while the need for humanitarian assistance continues to grow.
No plans to restore aid spending
In 2021, the UK’s aid budget was cut from the internationally agreed target of 0.7% of gross national income (GNI), established by the UN General Assembly in 1970 and enshrined in UK law in 2015, to 0.5%. The government is now implementing further cuts, reducing aid spending to 0.37% of GNI in 2026/27 and 0.3% in 2027/28. This would be the lowest level as a proportion of national income since 1999.
The government says the reduction is temporary and that Labour remains committed to reinstating 0.7%. But there is still no clear timetable for returning to that level. The Independent Commission for Aid Impact has described the planned reduction as a historic contraction in UK aid, with spending expected to fall by around 42% between 2023 and 2027/28.
For organisations working on the frontline, this means difficult choices about whether programmes can continue, whether health workers can be supported and whether people facing hunger and extreme poverty can get the help they need.
The impact of aid cuts are already being felt
In Liberia, cuts to UK aid and funding from other donors are putting pressure on essential healthcare. Concern teams report empty medicine shelves, shortages of basic supplies such as gloves and sanitiser, unpaid community health workers and ambulances without fuel.
Women are travelling long distances to health facilities only to find that contraceptives, including pills, implants and condoms, are unavailable because of disruptions to supply chains. HIV programmes are also under pressure, forcing difficult choices between maintaining HIV treatment, maternal health services and community healthcare.
These shortages have real consequences for people who rely on health services every day. When funding falls, essential supplies become harder to access and health workers struggle to provide the care communities need.
Aid cuts are reducing the resources available at a time when many communities remain highly vulnerable. That means organisations face increasingly difficult decisions about how many people they can reach and what services they can provide.
In Somalia, years of conflict, drought and flooding have left millions of people facing hunger. Climate change is making these shocks more frequent and severe, while humanitarian organisations are being asked to respond with fewer resources. Yet UK aid funding for Somalia is being cut by almost half.
The result is a growing gap between the scale of humanitarian need and the resources available to respond.
What happens next?
The government should set out a clear timeline and pathway for 0.7% to be restored, how progress will be measured, whilst ensuring every single penny from the aid budget at 0.3% is allocated towards people living with extreme poverty in some of the most fragile contexts globally.
At Concern, we see every day what UK aid can make possible: supporting mothers to give birth safely, treating children facing acute malnutrition and helping families survive conflict, hunger and climate shocks.
Join Concern’s Voice Your Concern campaign and call on the UK government to set out a clear plan to restore the UK’s aid budget.
