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The UK government’s investment arm for international development spent more than £7mn on business-class flights in the past two years, according to newly disclosed data.
British International Investment (BII), which receives taxpayer funding and is owned by the Foreign Office, spent £3.5mn on business class flights for staff in 2024 and £3.7mn in the previous year, government responses to freedom of information requests by the Financial Times show.
This included more than 1,100 business class flights during 2024, including more than 65 return flights that cost more than £6,000 a ticket.
According to BII’s annual accounts, the number of employees paid more than £200,000 rose by a fifth during 2023, the last year for which figures are available. This pushed more than a quarter of its 506 staff into this pay bracket. In the same year, the number of staff paid more than £400,000 jumped from one to five.
Scrutiny of BII’s expenditure on business-class travel and big pay rises comes as pressure grows on the UK’s aid budget, while departments are being asked to identify potential cuts as part of the spending review.
MPs and campaigners criticised the spending by the organisation, which invests across Asia, Africa and the Caribbean to try and tackle development challenges by supporting private sector growth and innovation.
Sarah Champion, chair of the House of Commons international development committee, said: “I’m concerned to see an organisation funded by taxpayers to alleviate poverty running up high bills and arguably lavish expenditure.”
The Labour MP added that “at a time when government departments are facing serious financial challenges, BII should make the case for why it is offering such generous salaries”.
The committee is currently running an inquiry into value for money which is “illuminating [that] the UK must deliver impact for every pound it spends on aid”, Champion said.
Gideon Rabinowitz, policy and advocacy director at Bond, the UK network for NGOs, said: “It is shocking that BII is wasting limited UK aid on luxury flights and inflated salaries while ODA [official development assistance] budgets are being slashed worldwide.”
He highlighted that Bond had “long questioned whether BII is delivering real impact in low-income and fragile countries”, adding: “There is little objective evidence that BII’s investments are doing more to lift people out of poverty or drive meaningful, lasting change compared to grant-based development funding.”
BII said that in a “steady state” it was able to be “entirely self-financing”, requiring top-ups of capital from government only to expand its activities.
British International Partnerships — BII’s parent unit within the Foreign Office — is due to receive £1.15mn this year from the government’s aid budget, of which the vast majority is expected to go to BII.
BII has partnerships with more than 1,500 businesses and it has invested in ports and renewable energy plants as well as businesses such as medical companies. Like other development finance institutions, BII has faced criticism for not focusing heavily enough on tackling poverty.
A 2023 report by the international development committee highlighted BII’s “large concentration” of investments in middle-income countries, which it warned did “not appear to be targeted towards the poorest and most marginalised people”.
Andrew Mitchell, development minister under the previous Conservative government, responded to the inquiry by unveiling a new target for half of BII’s annual budget to go towards the poorest and most fragile countries by the end of the decade.
The report also called on the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to increase its oversight of BII and take a non-voting seat on the BII board. The FCDO rejected the latter proposal, saying it did not believe it would enhance BII’s governance arrangements or outweigh attendant risks.
BII said the organisation takes taxpayer value for money “extremely seriously”.
It added: “Over the past decade BII has made a return of about £1.3bn on behalf of the UK taxpayer, while supporting millions of people living in some of the most disadvantaged places in the world. Our operating costs represent just 1.5 per cent of our portfolio commitments that total £9.3bn.
“Remuneration levels are set to enable the recruitment and retention of individuals with the technical skills and experience that enable BII to accomplish its mission. Employees only receive higher performance payments if we meet our impact targets and deliver a financial return for the UK taxpayer.”
Commenting on its spending on flights, BII said: “Employees fly in business class on long-haul flights to ensure that they are able to work effectively following their journey.”
The FCDO said: “BII is operationally independent from the UK government and its operating costs are covered by the profits it makes on its investments. This ensures BII delivers good value for money for the UK taxpayer.”