The UK government has said that if the UK leaves the European Union without a deal it will underwrite existing contracts that UK charities have to deliver programmes.
The announcement was made as part of 24 technical notices being published today as part of government preparations for a no-deal Brexit, although the government insists this is unlikely.
The EU had inserted disclaimers into aid contracts that would have seen UK charities lose their funding in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
In a paper on Delivering humanitarian aid programmes if there’s no Brexit deal, the government said that if the UK leaves without a deal charities with existing grants will have “no other option but to either terminate projects early and abruptly, with high extraction costs and negative programmatic consequences, or to finance the remainder of the programme themselves”.
It said this is “unacceptable” and that the UK government will fund “the post-March 2019 outputs of any programme” that had been funded under the core budget of the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations.
‘Much needed reassurance’
Bond, a representative body for international development charities, said the announcement provides charities with “much needed reassurance”.
Claire Godfrey, head of policy and campaigns, said: “This commitment provides much needed reassurance to UK NGOs so they can continue to bid for EU funding without fearing cuts before a programme has ended – the impact of which would have been borne by the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people.”
But she said the issue should never have arisen and called on politicians to “stop playing politics” with humanitarian aid.
“Humanitarian aid should never have become a Brexit negotiating tool. Inserting EC disclaimer clauses in NGO contracts unnecessarily discouraged UK NGOs, with sought-after expertise, from applying for funds,” she said.
“It is important to remember that the UK aid sector is a global leader when it comes to aid and development, and has long championed the value of keeping the world’s poorest at the heart of our work. We sadly risk hindering joint global development and aid efforts unless people stop playing politics with the lives of those facing dire poverty, insecurity and climate change.”
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