The Foreign Affairs Committee (FAC) [opens a new website] is a UK parliamentary body which regularly looks at the work of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO).  It also does the same with the British Council and BBC World Service, both of whom receive regular funding from the FCO.

It is known as a select committee and is made up of 14 MPs from the government and opposition political parties who undertake various inquiries into issues which affect the FCO. The FAC also goes on foreign fact-finding trips to inform its work.

Depending on the inquiry, the FAC can call both for written and oral submissions from interested parties. The Foreign Secretary and his ministers often appear before it to give oral evidence.

Recent FAC inquiries have looked at Global Security in Russia, the Middle East and Iran, and developments in the European Union. The FAC usually publishes a report when its inquiry has finished and reports to the House of Commons. These reports are sometimes debated by MPs.

By convention, the Government responds to an FAC report within two months of publication of the FAC's own report.

Visit the FAC website [opens a new website] for comprehensive details of who the members are, what they do and how to get in touch with them.

You can access the latest FAC reports [opens a new website] on their website and browse through earlier reports. 

You can also access the FCO-Government responses to FAC reports within the Publications section on our website. 

European Scrutiny Committee

Another committee which examines the FCO's work in the European Union (EU) is the European Scrutiny Committee [opens a new website] which assesses the legal and/or political importance of each EU document and decides which should be debated by Parliament.

Its main purpose is to ensure that the House of Commons and other organisations and individuals have a chance to influence UK Ministers on EU proposals and to hold UK Ministers to account for their activities in the EU Council of Ministers.

House of Lords European Union Committee

The House of Lords European Union Committee [opens a new website] scrutinises and reports on proposed European legislation before it is agreed in the EU and  starts its work at the earliest possible stage in the EU decision-making process. The Minister for Europe at the FCO often appears before its enquiries.