Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 23
53rd Report - Cost of maintaining the FCDO’s overseas estate
Published 12 Nov 2025
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Cost of maintaining the FCDO’s overseas estate All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
FCDO told us it had conducted lessons learned exercises for both the Washington and Ottawa projects and does so for all its major projects. However, FCDO does not currently record all its lessons in a single central log. FCDO told us that its portfolio management office had stopped recording lessons centrally to allow it to focus on other work but said it would restart soon.63 In the meantime, FCDO told us it has already introduced two reforms as a result of lessons learned from its Washington and Ottawa projects: • FCDO has brought in a design authority which is responsible for scrutinising the designs of all estate projects and which will authorise and sign them off as part of the project development process. 57 Q 69, C&AG’s report, para 3.5 58 C&AG’s report, paras 3.8-3.9 59 C&AG’s report, para 3.9 60 Q 71 61 C&AG’s report, para 3.9 62 Q 71 63 Qq 71, 73-74 15 • FCDO has established gateway reviews to take place at key points in the project development process, where it will invite external experts from bodies including the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) to independently review project development.64 Workforce
From: Public Accounts Committee, 53rd Report - Cost of maintaining the FCDO’s overseas estate (HC 884), 12 November 2025
Government response
Latest Treasury Minutes progress report to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Fifty-third Report of Session 2024-26
The government responded to the whole report on 4 June 2026 (deadline 12 January 2026).
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Fifth-third report from Session 2024-26
Published 19 January 2026.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government states that it "agrees with the Committee's recommendation" on each of the report's recommendations, and reports some as implemented and others with target dates.
- On estate strategy, the government agrees; an Overseas Network Review fully launching in January 2026 will look at the overall size and shape of the FCDO footprint, and the estates strategy is "due to be updated next in Spring 2026".
- On the maintenance backlog, the government agrees; the Overseas Estate Department is developing a more robust approach to its annual programme of works, with a target implementation date of end March 2029, and it will write to the Committee within six months categorising buildings by risk.
- On governance, the government agrees; a new Estates Committee was established in October 2025 and will meet quarterly, and an external review of the operating model and project delivery is due in Spring 2026.
- On lessons learned from capital projects, the government agrees; the FCDO "is re-establishing a comprehensive lessons-learned process across all capital projects", with a target implementation date of March 2026.