Budget 2010: DFID to save £150m and keep pledges to poor

24 March 2010

Today the Department for International Development announces that it will deliver £150m of savings, as its departmental contribution towards £11bn savings that are being made across government.

The government will continue to keep its promises to the world's poorest people. It remains fully committed to the target of spending 0.7% of Gross National Income (GNI) on official development assistance (ODA) by 2013, as outlined in the draft Bill published in January.

The Budget has today reaffirmed the government's commitment to making £11bn of savings a year by 2012/13 from efficiency and streamlining the centre of government. Departments are setting out their contributions to these savings.

The £11bn of savings will contribute to halving net borrowing and will protect frontline priorities. The savings will come following the work of the Operational Efficiency Programme and Putting the Frontline First: Smarter Government.

DFID will meet this target through a range of activities, including:

• Streamlining back-office processes - for example by sharing services with other overseas departments.
• Making significant savings in procurement by reducing the rates we pay, improving the value we achieve and procuring collaboratively.
• Halving the amount spent on consultancy now that we have built up in-house skills, for example in finance, IT and procurement.

The savings will help ensure that every pound of taxpayers' money has more impact on reducing poverty

The department is committed to delivering the significant savings necessary and is making real progress through ambitious efficiency and value for money plans.

Read the full press release