Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
Department overview


FCDO Main Building, Westminster
Formed	1782 (1782) (as the Foreign Office)
Preceding agencies	Commonwealth Office Foreign Office Department for International Development
Jurisdiction	Government of the United Kingdom
Headquarters	King Charles Street London Abercrombie House East Kilbride
Employees	8,098 (2024/25)
Annual budget	£8.172bn (resource) & £2.759bn (capital) in 2024–25
Secretary of State responsible	The Rt Hon. Yvette Cooper MP, Foreign Secretary
Department executives	Sir Olly Robbins, Permanent Under-Secretary for Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Affairs and Head of HM Diplomatic Service Nick Dyer, Second Permanent Under-Secretary for Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Affairs
Child agencies	FCDO Services Wilton Park
Website	gov.uk/fcdo

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The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), or Foreign Office 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.