FCDO's top development contractors of 2022/23
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office spent £1.1 billion on 625 contracts in 2022/23. We looked into the data to see which contracts were prioritized and who got the most development-related spending.
The United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office remains one of the world’s largest aid contributors. However, the department’s budget has been on a downward trend. For the fiscal year ending March 2023, it was expected to spend £7.6 billion ($9.5 billion), compared to £8.3 billion the year before. The decrease in FCDO spending began in 2021 when it was driven by a cut in overall spending from 0.7% of gross national income to 0.5%. In the subsequent period, the drop was caused primarily by increased spending on in-donor refugee costs, which meant cash was diverted from FCDO to another department, the Home Office. Devex looks into the contracts awarded in 2022/2023 to see where FCDO spent its money and what its priorities were. How the money was spent According to data extracted from the U.K. government contracts finder, FCDO spent a total of £1.1 billion via awarded contracts in the year. Despite the drop in the overall budget, contract spending was higher than in 2021, which saw total spending of £546.9 million. Devex looked at FCDO contracts to classify their purpose and found that the department spent £456.1 million, or 42.5% of the total, on maintenance contracts, including refurbishment agreements, additional staffing contracts, and procurement of office equipment. It spent £336.9 million, or 31.6%, on development contracts, including project-based services. Lastly, FCDO spent £209 million, or 19.5%, of the total on other services, which include service contracts that are not project related nor related to maintenance. Overall, the top three contracts totaled £516.5 million, or 48% of the total. The top recipient was Adam Smith International with £190 million for development-related contracts. Followed by G4S (DRC) SARL with £174 million for maintenance services and Adblu International Projects with £152.4 million for a single maintenance contract. FCDO’s development spending During 2021, FCDO spent £275.7 million on 96 development contracts. In 2022, this amount rose to £336.9 million on 64 contracts — a £61.2 million increase. Somalia was the top country that FCDO spent on, with £189.2 million, or 56.16% of the total spending on development. This is followed by Lebanon, with £29.3 million, and then Pakistan with £12 million. Contracts that have no specific country mentioned are not included in this count. FCDO seemed to have primarily focused on governance-based awards, which amount to £257.8 million or 76.51% of the total. This is followed by social development contracts amounting to £45.9 million and then economic contracts totaling £9.1 million. The majority of the awardees are based in the United Kingdom or have offices in the United Kingdom — 49 contracts worth £305.7 million, or 90.7% of the total. This is followed by awardees from the United States, with four contracts worth £16.4 million. One contract award worth £13.3 million was awarded to a consultancy based in the United Arab Emirates. Devex looked exclusively at development-related contracts in the fiscal year to identify the top recipients. Top 10 development contractors 1) Adam Smith International Ltd Location: United Kingdom Total number of contracts: 3 Total contract amount: £198 million Adam Smith International received three solo contracts totaling £198.9 million in 2022/2023. The highest contract is £180 million to run the Somalia Stability Fund III — a multidonor fund to build stability in Somalia. The figure of £180 million is the upper amount that can be awarded, with the initial value expected to be £60 million. 2) Oxford Policy Management Limited Location: United Kingdom Total number of contracts: 2 Total contract amount: £17.3 million Oxford Policy Management also received two contracts amounting to £17.3 million. The highest of the two contracts is a £15.7 million contract for a project that will improve early childhood developmental outcomes. 3) Siren Associates Location: United Kingdom Total number of contracts: 1 Total contract amount: £15.9 million Siren Associates received a single contract award worth £15.9 million to provide capacity-building support services to strengthen accountability and human rights performances in Lebanon. 4) The George Washington University Location: United States Total number of contracts: 1 Total contract amount: £14.9 million The George Washington University received a single contract award worth £14.9 million to lead a research program consortium to deliver a coherent portfolio of research and evaluation under a £67.5 million What Works to Prevent Violence: Impact at Scale Programme. 5) ARK Group DMCC Location: United Arab Emirates Total number of contracts: 1 Total contract amount: £13.3 million The ARK Group received a £13.3 million contract award to support, sustain, and enhance the capabilities of the armed forces in Lebanon. 6) Palladium International LTD Location: United Kingdom Total number of contracts: 1 Total contract amount: £12 million Palladium International received £12 million to provide technical assistance to the provincial governments of Pakistan under the UK-Pakistan Health Partnership Agreement. 7) Chemonics International Inc Location: United Kingdom Total number of contracts: 1 Total contract amount: £9 million Chemonics International received a £9 million contract to deliver funding and capacity-building support to the civil defense of Syria. 8) Itad Ltd. Location: United Kingdom Total number of contracts: 2 Total contract amount: £7.8 million Itad received two contracts totaling £7.8 million. The highest contract amounted to £7.5 million to provide support to Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning, or MEL, services for U.K. Conflict, Stability and Security Fund, or CSSF, programs in East and West Africa. 9) Ecorys UK Limited Location: United Kingdom Total number of contracts: 1 Total contract amount: £7.5 million Ecorys UK received a single £7.5 million contract to provide Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Services under the U.K. Conflict, Stability and Security Fund for Eastern Europe and Central Asia Directorate. 10) Ernst and Young LLP Location: United Kingdom Total number of contracts: 1 Total contract amount: £6.4 million Ernst and Young received one award worth £6.4 million to deliver cybersecurity resilience services to the government of India. Update, May 10, 2023: This article has been amended to show that total maintenance contracts and total overall contract amounts were lower than originally stated, after further research revealed duplicate entries in the U.K. government contracts database. Try out Devex Pro Funding today with a free five-day trial, and explore funding opportunities from over 850 sources in addition to our analysis and news content.
The United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office remains one of the world’s largest aid contributors. However, the department’s budget has been on a downward trend. For the fiscal year ending March 2023, it was expected to spend £7.6 billion ($9.5 billion), compared to £8.3 billion the year before.
The decrease in FCDO spending began in 2021 when it was driven by a cut in overall spending from 0.7% of gross national income to 0.5%. In the subsequent period, the drop was caused primarily by increased spending on in-donor refugee costs, which meant cash was diverted from FCDO to another department, the Home Office.
Devex looks into the contracts awarded in 2022/2023 to see where FCDO spent its money and what its priorities were.
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Alecsondra Si is a Junior Development Analyst at Devex. She analyzes funding data from bilateral and multilateral agencies, foundations, and other public and private donors to produce content for Devex Pro and Pro Funding readers. She has a bachelor’s degree in International Studies - major in European Studies from De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines.
