The British Government is a primary target of the work of ActionAid in the UK. Decisions made by British politicians, civil servants and special advisors can make a huge difference to the lives of millions of people in the developing world.

With its overall responsibility for international development policy the Department for International Development (DFID) is key for ActionAid’s policy and campaigns work.

But other Government departments are important too: trade and corporate policies are decided by the Department for Trade and Industry (DTI); food, agriculture and climate change are the responsibility of the Department for Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). The Prime Minister’s office and the Treasury often set the framework for action in the individual departments.

Comprehensive Spending Review 2007
Every three years the Treasury conducts a spending review which sets limits on the expenditure of all government departments. In 1998 the new Labour Government conducted a Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) which undertook a thorough audit of every department’s aims and objectives. In 2007 the Government has decided that a second CSR is necessary.

The CSR is important because it will help determine the amount of money available to the Department for International Development and set targets for how the money should be spent. ActionAid will be challenging the Treasury to give DFID the funding it needs to meet the separate aid and debt targets that the Government committed to at the G8 summit in 2005.

DFID white paper 2006
White papers set out the Government’s strategy for a particular issue or specific department. In 2006 the Department for International Development published the third white paper since it was created in 1997.