This House of Lords Library briefing provides background information on the UK’s ODA budget, surveys the development of government policy on the evaluation and measurement of development activity and suggests sources of further reading which provide information on the impact of specific aid initiatives.
Measuring the Impact of the UK’s Development Aid Budget (2MB PDF)
The UK has spent at least 0.7 percent of gross national income (GNI) on official development assistance (ODA) since 2013. The Department for International Development has focused on strengthening the evaluation of projects and programmes funded by the aid budget in recent years, and the Government more broadly has indicated its commitment to monitoring the outcomes of its bilateral aid programmes and the performance of its multilateral aid partners. In addition to this governmental self-assessment activity, the ODA budget is subject to oversight by several bodies with a monitoring remit.
This House of Lords Library briefing provides background information on the UK’s ODA budget, surveys the development of government policy on the evaluation and measurement of development activity and suggests sources of further reading which provide information on the impact of specific aid initiatives.
Measuring the Impact of the UK’s Development Aid Budget (2MB PDF)
Concerns have been raised about levels of welfare spending in the UK and increasing numbers of young people not in education, employment or training. This briefing sets out statistics, government policy and commentary on welfare and youth employment. This includes the government’s youth guarantee, its ‘Get Britain working’ policies and the interim report by Alan Milburn on young people and work.
Rural areas contribute a significant proportion of England’s economic output. The government has announced several policies intended to support growth in the rural economy, including farming. However, it has faced criticism for the delay in outlining its overall strategy for the agricultural sector. This briefing provides data on the rural economy and summarises government policy and stakeholder reaction
The Financial Services and Markets Bill [HL] is a government bill that would make reforms to several areas of financial regulation, including reforms to the Financial Ombudsman Service, abolishing the Payment Systems Regulator, introducing a ‘provisional licences’ authorisation scheme, and making reforms to the UK’s bank ring-fencing regime. Its second reading in the House of Lords is scheduled to take place on 8 June 2026.
![Financial Services and Markets Bill [HL]: HL Bill 5 of 2026–27](https://lordslibrary-parliament.studio24.dev/content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/tadas-petrokas-G7nWQwb6AP4-unsplash-568x320.jpg)