Foreign Office and DfID merger must not lead to reduction in ‘expertise’, MPs warn
MPs have warned that the merger between the Foreign Office and the Department for International Development (DfID) must not result in a weakening of “expertise”.
The Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee said the new department, which will be called the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), “risks weakening the cultures of each department”.
In a study responding to the government’s announcement of the merger last month, MPs said the decision should not lead to the loss of highly skilled staff who have established the UK’s reputation in the aid sector.
MP Tom Tugendhat, the Tory chairman of the committee said: “Co-operation will determine the success of the merger.”
“Urgent responses are needed to global challenges from dealing with the departure from the Covid emergency, the need to build new alliances, and the response to climate change, so the new department will have no time to settle in,” he added.
