Reorganising departments is not easy. In our view, the decision to merge the FCO and DFID into a new international department, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), is flawed on a number of grounds: • The decision was taken whilst the Integrated Review was paused, in its early stages, and far from ready to reach any decisions about future systems and structures. • Linked to the status of the Integrated Review, there appears to have been no structured consultation of the aid...

Reorganising departments is not easy. In our view, the decision to merge the FCO and DFID into a new international department, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), is flawed on a number of grounds: • The decision was taken whilst the Integrated Review was paused, in its early stages, and far from ready to reach any decisions about future systems and structures. • Linked to the status of the Integrated Review, there appears to have been no structured consultation of the aid sector, either in the UK or internationally, nor other obvious stakeholders to inform the decision to merge DFID into the FCO. • It is also perplexing t Type: conclusion | Number: 1 | Paragraph: 28 | Response status: under_consideration Government response: Both the Integrated Review and the merger of FCO and DFID are evidence of the Prime Minister’s commitment to a unified British foreign policy that will maximise our influence around the world. A great deal of work had been undertaken in the e