Statement to Parliament: Tailored Review of Wilton Park: written ministerial statement

I am announcing today the start of a tailored review of Wilton Park, an Executive Agency of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office.

The principal aims of Tailored Reviews are to ensure public bodies remain fit for purpose, are well governed and properly accountable for what they do.

Wilton Park is an Executive Agency of the FCO, which convenes discreet dialogue on the UK’s strategic foreign policy priorities. It has shaped and delivered events since 1946 linking a global network of experts from a range of sectors, including academia, the military, civil society, business, politicians and diplomats.

The Review, the first since 2015, will provide a robust scrutiny of and assurance on the continuing need for Wilton Park – both its function and its form. If this process finds the agency should be retained in its current form and status, it will then consider how Wilton Park can deliver on its core mandate more effectively and efficiently. It will also assess the control and governance arrangements that are in place to ensure that Wilton Park and the FCO are complying with recognised principles of good corporate governance.

In conducting this Tailored Review, officials will engage with a broad range of stakeholders across the UK and overseas, including staff, management and the Board of Wilton Park. These consultations will include participating and sponsor organisations of Wilton Park events as well as partners from across UK government, foreign governments, international organisations, business, academia and the third sector.

The review will follow guidance published in 2016 by the Cabinet Office: ‘Tailored reviews: guidance on reviews of public bodies’. The Terms of Reference for the review can be found on gov.uk.

I shall inform the House of the outcome of the review when it is completed and copies of the report of the review will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.