Billions of pounds of British aid money is languishing unspent in the bank , MPs warn today . In a highly critical report , the Commons international development committee says ministers wrote out huge cheques to a series of major aid agencies like the World Bank as they scrambled to meet David Cameron ’ s controversial target to spend billions more on aid . But although the money has been promised , and counts towards meeting the UK ’ s aid target , much of it will not be spent for years . Disaster : Villagers clean up their destroyed homes after it was hit by Cyclone Pam on Tanna Island in Vanuatu last week . Today ’ s report estimates that at least £2.1 billion of ‘ aid ’ money is currently sitting in the bank unspent . It warns that ministers have become ‘ increasingly reliant ’ on multilateral organisations like the World Bank as they try to get billions more pounds of aid money out of the door . This type of spending was increased by 43 per cent over the previous year as the department rushed to hit Mr Cameron ’ s target of spending 0.7 per cent of Britain ’ s income on aid . Targets : David Cameron has a target of spending 0.7 % of Britain 's income on aid . In a further criticism of the aid target , MPs say it distorts spending towards the end of the year – meaning that victims of natural disasters in the autumn are much more likely to get aid from Britain than those who are hit by catastrophe in the spring . The Department for International Development ( Dfid ) gave £6.3 billion to so-called multilateral aid agencies in 2013 – roughly 63 per cent of its budget . Today ’ s report says MPs are ‘ concerned by Dfid ’ s extensive use of multilateral organisations to achieve this growth ( in spending ) . Due to the way this is accounted for , some of this money will not be spent for a number of years. ’ A Dfid spokesman last night defended the department ’ s spending . The spokesman said : ‘ We fund multilaterals when they are the best partners to work with us to deliver our objectives , whether that be in a humanitarian crisis , natural disaster or on a specific topic such as migration and refugees . ‘ We are living in a world that is facing unprecedented humanitarian pressures . The UK is proud to be a world leader in responding to emergencies . ’
Report estimates £ ##500 of aid money in the uk . Ministers increasingly reliant on organisations like World ##aid . Natural disaster victims more likely to get sick in autumn than in spring .