Aid funding is guaranteed if the UK crashes out of the EU after March 2019

Humanitarian aid programmes funded by the European Union (EU) will not be axed in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

Charities have been assured by Westminster’s Department for International Development (DfID) that funding is guaranteed if the UK crashes out of the EU after March 2019 without transition arrangements being put in place.

The department released guidance in the light of concerns from charities.

Ministers said that in the event of a no-deal Brexit, it would commit to funding any programme funded from the EU’s core budget after March 2019 in which a UK organisation "is the lead consortium partner or sole implementer".

The DfID guidance reiterates that UK-based charities and NGOs should be able to bid for funding and participate in and lead EU-funded programmes approved before December 2020.

Claire Godfrey, head of policy and campaigns at the international development network Bond, 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.

"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."