Review of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy

David Rutley Excerpts

Wednesday 15th November 2023 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (David Rutley)]

The Minister of State for the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, Commonwealth and United Nations, my noble Friend Lord Ahmad, has today made the following statement:



I am today announcing a review of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD), an Executive non-departmental public body of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

The WFD was established in 1992 and is dedicated to strengthening democracy around the world by delivering programmes, expertise and research. WFD mobilises UK and international expertise and works with parliaments, political parties, electoral bodies, civil society and local leaders, currently working in more than 30 countries and territories, to help them make their democracies fairer, more inclusive and more accountable, so they can respond to the problems that matter to people.

This review is part of the public bodies review programme, which delivers against the commitments made in the Declaration on Government Reform to increase the effectiveness of public bodies and departmental sponsorship. In 2022, all Departments were asked to prioritise their arm’s length bodies for review. The then Foreign Secretary decided that the WFD, which had last been reviewed in 2018, should undergo a review before the end of 2023-24.

This review will follow the Cabinet Office guidance on the undertaking of reviews of public bodies. It will assess the WFD’s efficacy, governance arrangements, accountability and efficiency. It will consider whether and how the WFD’s mandate could be delivered more effectively and efficiently, and provide robust and well-evidenced recommendations to the departmental sponsor team.

In conducting this review, officials will engage with a broad range of stakeholders, including parliamentarians; political parties; staff, management and the board of governors at the WFD; FCDO teams in the UK and overseas; cross-Whitehall Departments; donors; and those engaged in WFD programmes.

I shall inform the House of the outcome of the review when it is completed.

[HCWS36]