Britain could meet its controversial aid spending commitment by stockpiling funds to deal with an ebola-style crisis, it has emerged.
Senior ministers met for the first time yesterday to discuss the forthcoming spending review, which will set out cuts of £20 billion to government departments next month.
Some cabinet ministers are understood to be resisting reaching a deal, with most of the easy savings having already been made.
Ministers held detailed discussions on Britain’s £12 billion foreign aid budget, which is protected from cuts. Many Conservatives believe that some of the money is being wasted as officials scramble to spend it.
One option designed to ensure that the money is spent more effectively is to allow the government to build up a big foreign aid reserve to be spent on a major crisis, rather than rushing out spending on questionable projects.
Advertisement
“The government has already directed the aid budget towards supporting those caught up in the Syrian refugee crisis,” a Treasury source said.
“The government is discussing holding more money in reserve so we can respond even better to humanitarian crises, and discussing how we can target money at the global challenges that threaten Britain.”
The group also talked about beefing up a plan to hand more powers to cities and ways to close the economic gap between north and south.