Recommendation 11

Since 2010, FCDO has funded its overseas estate capital and maintenance projects through property sales. It has generated £1.47 billion from sales, largely from a sale in Bangkok in 2018 and a partial sale of its Tokyo site in 2022. FCDO has been able to access these funds flexibly, subject to the standard HM Treasury spending controls, and this has allowed it to complete or start around 200 capital projects since 2018. However, the NAO report concluded that this approach to funding its estate requirements was unsustainable.27 As part of the Spending Review 2025 negotiations, HM Treasury agreed with FCDO that the system of funding its estate through major sales of estate was no longer viable, and that FCDO required a more sustainable funding model for the overseas estate portfolio. Subsequently, in the 2025 Spending Review, FCDO secured an annual settlement of £50 million resource funding for day-to-day spending to maintain its estate and £100 million capital funding for larger projects.28 20 Qq 30, 65 21 Qq 49, 65 22 C&AG’s report, paras 8, 14 23 Q 27; C&AG’s report, para 2.7 24 C&AG’s report, para 3.5 25 Q 49 26 C&AG’s report, para 14 27 C&AG’s report, paras 1.18-19 28 Q 27; C&AG’s report, paras 1.18-20; Spending Review 2025, CP 1336, 11 June 2025; Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Main Estimates Memorandum 2025 to 2026, 16 May 2025 10