FCDO Funded Scholarship Schemes: Response to Independent Review

Thursday 7th December 2023 Written Statements

[The Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Mr Andrew Mitchell)]

I wish to inform the House that the Government have today published the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office response to the independent public body review of the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission (CSC) and the Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission (MACC), and the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office’s internal Chevening scholarship programme.

The Government launched a review of FCDO’s arm’s length bodies’ scholarships schemes and Chevening scholarships in 2022. The review was independent and formed part of the public bodies review programme which delivers against the commitments made in the declaration on Government reform to increase the effectiveness of organisations to ensure they are set up in the best possible way to deliver.

The review sets out clear and comprehensive recommendations which will enable us to undertake a programme of reform to better support the scholarships schemes. This will ensure the three schemes continue to perform at a high level, with closer alignment to each other to ensure a mutually supportive portfolio of scholarship schemes that are greater than the sum of their parts, and which support the FCDO’s international diplomacy and development objectives.

We have published a response to the review, which sets out our response to each of the recommendations. The Government accept all the review’s recommendations, noting that some require additional budget, and the feasibility of new funding will be explored in the next spending review. The Government also accept that further detailed collaborative work with the ALBs and Chevening will be required before the implementation of all recommendations is completed.

The FCDO-funded scholarship schemes are integral to supporting the Department’s international diplomacy and development objectives, and we are grateful to the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission and the Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission for engaging positively with this review. We would also like to extend our thanks to the lead reviewer and the review team for dedicating much time and consideration to this review, and for producing clear and useful recommendations which will enable us to build on the important work of the FCDO-funded scholarship schemes.

The publication will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

[HCWS104]