Home / Sources / Select Committees / Public Accounts Committee / Cost of maintaining the FCDO’s overseas…
Index live · Last sync 22 May 2026
Select Committee · Public Accounts Committee

Cost of maintaining the FCDO’s overseas estate

Status: Open Opened: 6 May 2025 8 recommendations 18 conclusions 1 report

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s (FCDO) overseas estate encompasses over 6,000 properties spread over almost 180 countries and valued at around £2.5 billion. The varied locations and uses of properties in this estate each present their own unique challenges which range from supply issues to security concerns. The overseas estate also hosts the operations …

Clear

Reports

1 report
Title HC No. Published Items Response
53rd Report - Cost of maintaining the FCDO’s overseas estate HC 884 12 Nov 2025 26 Responded

Recommendations & Conclusions

3 items
7 Conclusion 53rd Report - Cost of maintaining the F… Deferred

FCDO estate strategy development remains complex, balancing central oversight with local flexibility and diverse properties.

In 2010 the Public Accounts Committee concluded that the then Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s (FCO) estate strategy “provided a high-level description of the estate’s strategic aims but lacked detail on its estate requirements, whether the estate met these requirements, and how any gaps would be addressed.” At the time, FCO …

Government response. The government response is entirely unrelated to the FCDO estate strategy, instead detailing actions regarding "Britain's illegal meat crisis" and biosecurity at the border, including potential funding increases for Dover Port Health Authority and a new methodology for estimating imports …
HM Treasury
8 Conclusion 53rd Report - Cost of maintaining the F… Deferred

FCDO now better positioned to develop its global estate strategy with improved data and new resources.

FCDO told us it is now in a better position than it was previously to make progress in developing its estate strategy. It considers itself to have better data on its overseas estate than it had before, and has had some time to assess how to manage its new posts. …

Government response. The government response is entirely unrelated to the FCDO estate strategy, instead detailing actions regarding vaccine availability for animal diseases, including a five-year multi-stakeholder Action Plan to be published in late 2026 and an ongoing assessment of a Bovine TB …
HM Treasury
9 Conclusion 53rd Report - Cost of maintaining the F… Deferred

FCDO prioritises estate safety, compliance, and security as its paramount strategic goal for staff welfare.

FCDO’s first strategic goal for its estate is for it to be safe, compliant with all relevant health and safety standards, and for it to be as secure as possible.19 The Permanent Under-Secretary told us that his most important duty is to look after the welfare of his staff and …

Government response. The government response is entirely unrelated to the FCDO estate, instead detailing work on negotiations for a Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) agreement with the EU and plans to examine strategic themes for strengthening long-term resilience to animal disease.
HM Treasury

Oral evidence sessions

1 session
Date Witnesses
10 Jul 2025 Dr Ian Collard OBE · Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office, Eddie Hannah OBE · Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office, Nick Dyer · Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office, Sir Oliver Robbins KCMG CB · Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office View ↗

Correspondence

4 letters
DateDirectionTitle
16 Mar 2026 From cttee Letter to the Permanent Secretary of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development …
26 Jan 2026 To cttee Letter from the Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Dev…
4 Sep 2025 To cttee Letter from the Second Permanent Under-Secretary of State of the Foreign, Commo…
4 Sep 2025 From cttee Letter to the Permanent Under-Secretaries of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Deve…