Judge denies legal challenge against FCDO over UK aid cuts

An application to bring a legal case against the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office over the U.K. government’s aid cuts has been rejected by a judge, according to the International Planned Parenthood Federation.

An IPPF statement Tuesday said its judicial review application was rejected by the High Court Justice Barry Cotter on the grounds that it was late and that the government is allowed to cancel contracts.

But IPPF said it believes that the controversial Judicial Review and Courts Bill, which is currently going through Parliament, had a “chilling effect” on the decision and “is making judges less eager to move judicial reviews forward.” Devex has asked the judiciary for comment. IPPF also described the bill as a “terrifying attack on the legal system and civil liberties.”

"We are extremely disappointed to have our application for judicial review denied, not just for ourselves but for the millions of women, girls and marginalised people whose lives and futures have been destroyed by the callous and unnecessary cuts to foreign aid,” said Dr. Alvaro Bermejo, director general at IPFF.

He added: "We have taken every step to demonstrate the unlawful way in which these cuts were implemented, including the sudden termination of already agreed contracts. Still, it seems that the government can act with impunity, regardless of laws designed to protect the international aid budget and the people and organisations that depend on it.”

An FCDO spokesperson commented to Devex that “the Government welcomes this decision.”

The 0.7% budget is protected in legislation, but the government denies it has acted unlawfully and says it reduced it to 0.5%, causing the aid cuts, as a result of the economic pressures caused by the pandemic. Ministers have repeatedly claimed the aid cut is temporary and will return to 0.7% when fiscal conditions are met — a decision endorsed by Parliament — which was cited by Cotter in his decision, according to IPPF. But economists predict the return to 0.7% aid spending will not happen until at least 2024, according to current forecasts. An FCDO spokesperson commented that the U.K. government “has provided a clear measure” on returning to the 0.7% target, and said the U.K. remains a “world-leading aid donor.”

IPPF’s subcommittee and board of trustees will make a decision “soon” on whether to appeal the decision, a spokesperson for the organization told Devex.

An FCDO Equalities Assessment examining the likely impact of the aid cuts was released by IPPF after the proceedings. FCDO officials wrote in March 2021 — before many NGOs were told about how their work would be affected — that the aid cuts would “likely be a significant reduction in the number and size of targeted programme activities aimed at reaching those furthest behind — including women, girls and people with disabilities.”

The assessment revealed that “there will be an estimated 60% reduction in bilateral spend for social protection programmes, which seek to reduce poverty and are a key tool in mitigating COVID 19 social and economic shocks for the poorest and most marginalised.”

It also said “the proposed scale of reductions to specific gender interventions, including Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) will impact girls’ education and wider efforts to advance gender equality … [and] reduce services available to women and girls who are subject to sexual violence, including sexual exploitation and abuse and sexual harassment (SEAH), and our ability to progress safeguarding objectives and championing of a survivor-centred approach.”

The report added that reductions for bilateral VAWG work would likely amount to 75%, falling from £23.7 million to £6 million ($31.8 million to $8.1 million). But Foreign Secretary Liz Truss wrote Tuesday that this would be reversed, as the FCDO launched a new campaign against sexual violence in conflict, accompanied by £22.4 million in aid pledges.

IPPF’s application focused on the cancelation of funds for IPPF's Approaches in Complex and Challenging Environments for Sustainable SRHR, or ACCESS, program, which is expected to lose £14.2 million, from an agreed £21 million until December 2023, as a result of the aid cuts.

Devex reported in March on the impact IPPF believed the United Kingdom’s aid cuts would also have on their work in the Women’s Integrated Sexual Health program, which Dr. Bermejo said would cause 7.5 million additional unintended pregnancies, 2.7 million unsafe abortions, and 22,000 maternal deaths in just a year.

Update, Nov. 17, 2021: This article has been updated to include comments from FCDO.