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Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom.
The office was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the Department for International Development (DFID). The FCO was itself created in 1968 by the merger of the Foreign Office (FO) and the Commonwealth Office. The department is responsible for representing and promoting British interests worldwide.
The head of the FCDO is the secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, commonly abbreviated to "foreign secretary". This is regarded as one of the four most prestigious positions in the Cabinet – the Great Offices of State – alongside those of Prime Minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Home Secretary. Yvette Cooper was appointed Foreign Secretary on 5 September 2025 following the 2025 British cabinet reshuffle.
The FCDO is managed day-to-day by a civil servant, the permanent under-secretary of state for foreign affairs, who also acts as the Head of His Majesty's Diplomatic Service. Sir Oliver Robbins took office as permanent under-secretary on 8 January 2025.
The expenditure, administration and policy of the FCDO are scrutinised by the Foreign Affairs Select Committee.
According to the FCDO website, the department's key responsibilities (as of 2020) are as follows:
In addition to those responsibilities, the FCDO is responsible for the British Overseas Territories, which had previously been administered from 1782 to 1801 by the Home Office, from 1801 to 1854 by the War and Colonial Office, from 1854 to 1966 by the Colonial Office, from 1966 to 1968 by the Commonwealth Office, and from 1968 by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (this did not include protectorates, which fell under the purview of the Foreign Office, or to British India, which had been administered by the East India Company until 1858, and thereafter by the India Office).
This arrangement has been subject to criticism in the UK and in the overseas territories. For example, the chief minister of Anguilla, Victor Banks, said: "We are not foreign; neither are we members of the Commonwealth, so we should have a different interface with the UK that is based on mutual respect". There have been numerous suggestions on ways to improve the relationship between the overseas territories and the UK. Suggestions have included setting up a dedicated department to handle relations with the overseas territories, similarly to the French Ministry of the Overseas, or alternatively the absorption of the Overseas Territories Directorate (OTD) in the Cabinet Office, thus affording the overseas territories with better connections to the centre of government.
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Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom.
The office was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the Department for International Development (DFID). The FCO was itself created in 1968 by the merger of the Foreign Office (FO) and the Commonwealth Office. The department is responsible for representing and promoting British interests worldwide.
The head of the FCDO is the secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, commonly abbreviated to "foreign secretary". This is regarded as one of the four most prestigious positions in the Cabinet – the Great Offices of State – alongside those of Prime Minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Home Secretary. Yvette Cooper was appointed Foreign Secretary on 5 September 2025 following the 2025 British cabinet reshuffle.
The FCDO is managed day-to-day by a civil servant, the permanent under-secretary of state for foreign affairs, who also acts as the Head of His Majesty's Diplomatic Service. Sir Oliver Robbins took office as permanent under-secretary on 8 January 2025.
The expenditure, administration and policy of the FCDO are scrutinised by the Foreign Affairs Select Committee.
According to the FCDO website, the department's key responsibilities (as of 2020) are as follows:
In addition to those responsibilities, the FCDO is responsible for the British Overseas Territories, which had previously been administered from 1782 to 1801 by the Home Office, from 1801 to 1854 by the War and Colonial Office, from 1854 to 1966 by the Colonial Office, from 1966 to 1968 by the Commonwealth Office, and from 1968 by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (this did not include protectorates, which fell under the purview of the Foreign Office, or to British India, which had been administered by the East India Company until 1858, and thereafter by the India Office).
This arrangement has been subject to criticism in the UK and in the overseas territories. For example, the chief minister of Anguilla, Victor Banks, said: "We are not foreign; neither are we members of the Commonwealth, so we should have a different interface with the UK that is based on mutual respect". There have been numerous suggestions on ways to improve the relationship between the overseas territories and the UK. Suggestions have included setting up a dedicated department to handle relations with the overseas territories, similarly to the French Ministry of the Overseas, or alternatively the absorption of the Overseas Territories Directorate (OTD) in the Cabinet Office, thus affording the overseas territories with better connections to the centre of government.