UK Inquiry Tracker

Cost of maintaining the FCDO’s overseas estate

Public Accounts Committee Open Inquiry

Opened: 6 May 2025 Parliament page

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 … Read more 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 of at least 30 other UK government departments and bodies that require a presence overseas. In 2023, the FCDO estimated the cost of maintenance for this estate was at least £250 million. The FCDO’s estate has grown considerably since the Committee last reported on this issue in 2010, when it warned that the Department had a poor understanding of its overseas estate and the information it had on these properties was incomplete, out-of-date and inaccurate. More recently, the Committee examined the Government’s management of its estate in the UK, and found worrying signs that there was a ‘lack of ambition’ to reduce significant maintenance costs. The National Audit Office (NAO) recently examined how the FCDO manages and maintains its estate. Since 2010 the FCDO has been required to fund its estates capital programme through asset sales. The sale of assets in Bangkok and the partial sale of assets in Tokyo provided the Department with around £1.2 billion which has contributed to the recent completion of projects in Washington DC, Paris and Ottawa. Based on the NAO’s findings, the Committee will hear evidence from senior FCDO representatives, with likely topics including: Examining the FCDO’s strategy for meeting current and future maintenance demands of its overseas estate; Exploring the long-term viability of the current funding model used for overseas estate capital projects and; Questioning if the FCDO is managing its assets in the most cost-effective manner, or if more can be done to ensure it secures the best value for taxpayer's funds. If you have evidence on these issues please submit it here by 23:59 on Thursday 26 June 2025. Please look at the requirements for written evidence submissions and note that the Committee cannot accept material as evidence that is published elsewhere. Please note that the Committee’s inquiry cannot assist with individual cases. If you need help with an individual problem you are having, you may wish to read the information on Parliament’s website about who you can contact with different issues . Show less

9 Recommendations

17 Conclusions

1 Report

1 Oral session

4 Letters

1 Event

Activity timeline 8 events

16 Mar
2026

Correspondence

Letter to the Permanent Secretary of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office relating to Treasury Minute response: Cost of maintai…

26 Jan
2026

Correspondence

Letter from the Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office relating to the Committee’s Fifty-third Repo…

19 Jan
2026

Report published

Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Fifth-third report from Session 2024-26

12 Nov
2025

Report published

53rd Report - Cost of maintaining the FCDO’s overseas estate

4 Sep
2025

Correspondence

Letter to the Permanent Under-Secretaries of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office relating to the FCDO’s management of Official…

4 Sep
2025

Correspondence

Letter from the Second Permanent Under-Secretary of State of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office relating to the oral evidence…

10 Jul
2025

Oral evidence

Oral evidence session

10 Jul
2025

Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House

Committee event

Oral evidence sessions 1 session

10 Jul 2025

View on parliament.uk

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

Reports 1 report · click to expand

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 results

7 Conclusion Deferred

53rd Report - Cost of maintaining …

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 … Read more

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 by early 2026.

HM Treasury

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8 Conclusion Deferred

53rd Report - Cost of maintaining …

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 … Read more

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 vaccine application.

HM Treasury

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9 Conclusion Deferred

53rd Report - Cost of maintaining …

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 … Read more

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

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Government Response AI assessment · 24 of 9 classified

Accepted 14

Acknowledged 5

Deferred 3

Not Addressed 2

Total 9 recs + 17 conclusions

Correspondence 4 letters

16 Mar 2026 From committee Letter to the Permanent Secretary of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office relating to Treasury Minute response: Cost of maintaining the FCDO’s overseas estate, 16 March 2026

Parliament page

26 Jan 2026 To committee Letter from the Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office relating to the Committee’s Fifty-third Report on the Cost of maintaining the FCDO’s overseas estate, 16 January 2026

Parliament page

4 Sep 2025 From committee Letter to the Permanent Under-Secretaries of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office relating to the FCDO’s management of Official Development Assistance (ODA), 18 August 2025

Parliament page

4 Sep 2025 To committee Letter from the Second Permanent Under-Secretary of State of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office relating to the oral evidence session held on 10 July 2025 follow up on Equality Impact Assessments, 24 July 2025

Parliament page