16 April 2025
The FCDO have confirmed that, following discussions during the Financial Aid Mission held in January 2025, the UK Government has allocated £35.79m of recurrent funding to the St Helena Government as a contribution to their annual budget for the 25/26 financial year. This represents an increase of just over 5% (see Table 1) from the last financial year.
Table 1
| Financial Year | TOTAL |
| 2023/24 | £33,060,000 (4% increase on previous year) |
| 2024/25 | £34,060,000 (3% increase on previous year) |
| 2025/26 | £35,790,000 (5% increase on previous year) |
In the context of an incredibly difficult fiscal position faced by the UK Government, this is a very strong result for St Helena. This funding is alongside the £6.65m that is being provided as a result of the BIOT migrant agreement. This funding allows the government to pursue its priority objectives and policies, such as the recently announced education review.
This announcement does not relate to other funding streams which include the Economic Development Investment Programme (EDIP), the Cloud Forest and other Programmes. These programmes allow us to implement vital infrastructure projects such as the new build prison, the renewable energy programme and the Rupert’s Port project. They also allow us to continue our work on vital environmental programmes.
Deputy Director of Overseas Territories and Polar Regions Directorate, Adam Pile, said:
“Given the UK’s need to increase funding for defence and security priorities and the challenging fiscal position the UK Government finds itself in, I hope you will agree that this is an incredibly positive outcome, and one which confirms the UK Government’s continued commitment to meeting St Helena’s reasonable assistance needs.”
Chief Minister Julie Thomas commented:
“We are grateful to the UK Government for delivering an increase of 5% on our annual financial settlement, particularly set against the challenging global and UK context. Special thanks are extended to Minister Doughty for his ongoing support to the British Overseas Territories, especially noting St Helena being an aid dependent territory. To receive such an outcome during unprecedented times is a clear demonstration of the strength of partnership between SHG and the FCDO. It also cements the need for us to continue to strive to work closely together to achieve the best outcome for St Helena.”
“Despite this positive outcome, as a government we will still need to continue to take hard and difficult decisions, which I appreciate will not be well-received. However due to our financial position we will simply not be able to address all of my government’s policy priorities and will have to focus on fulfilling our essential needs.”
#StHelena #FCDO #FinancialAidMission