UK withholds Commonwealth Secretariat funds amid concerns

The UK government on Wednesday confirmed that it has withheld its estimated 4.7 million pounds voluntary contribution to a key Commonwealth fund amid concerns over procurement policies within the Commonwealth Secretariat in London.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) said that funding to the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation (CFTC) for the 2018-19 financial year was 4,721,664 pounds, the final tranche of which has been paid in.

However, there will be a number of conditions to be met before the funding for the 2019-20 financial year can be made.

We are committed to an effective Commonwealth that delivers for its member states, so we have set a number of conditions on UK funding to the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation for this financial year, an FCO spokesperson said.

These include conditions relating to ensuring that the Secretariat's procurement policy and its implementation are in line with international best practice, the spokesperson said.

The suspension .