The UK already reports in detail on aid spending. But aid is only one part of how the UK affects people in lower-income countries. If we care about reducing poverty and supporting development, we also need to pay attention to the policies and economic links that sit outside the aid budget.
Policies beyond aid can matter more
Decisions made in the UK on trade, migration, finance, tax, climate and the environment, security, and regulation can have a bigger—sometimes much bigger—impact on lower-income countries than the money we spend on aid.
Making sure these different policy areas support development, rather than undermining it, is often described as policy coherence for development.
Better information is needed to support accountability
One reason incoherent policies persist is that the information available to voters, media and Parliament is uneven. In domestic policy, regular, trusted data—on jobs, inflation, crime, waiting times—helps people judge whether the government is performing well overall.
In international development, the data the public most often sees is about aid: how much is spent and what projects delivered. That matters, but it is incomplete.
Aid gets attention because it’s visible
Aid is relatively easy to communicate: a single headline number, plus tangible outputs such as vaccines delivered or schools supported. By contrast, the effects of trade rules, financial flows, tax policy, or regulation are harder to see and are scattered across many datasets and institutions.
This creates a predictable bias: accountability focuses on what is easiest to measure, not necessarily what matters most.
There is an information gap beyond aid
Current official reporting on development is still heavily centred on aid (for example in departmental reporting and official statistics on international development). Meanwhile, international datasets—such as those published by institutions like the World Bank—describe broad trends and aggregate flows, but usually cannot isolate the UK’s role in a way that supports public accountability.
A practical step: make the UK’s real footprint easier to see
Many relevant interactions are already recorded by government bodies and agencies, but the information is often fragmented across multiple sources, published in inconsistent formats, or difficult to interpret. Other data is becoming available through transparency and anti-corruption initiatives, but gaps remain.
Development Monitor brings this information together and presents it in an accessible way—so citizens, NGOs, journalists and policymakers can better understand how the UK affects lower-income countries, and where policy changes could reduce harm and increase positive impact.