Category:CSSF Contractors
This category lists companies, charities and other organisations that have been appointed to, or have delivered contracts under, the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF), the cross-government fund managed by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
The CSSF is described by the FCDO as "a cross-government fund, with an annual budget in the region of 867 000 000 GBP, which delivers and supports activity including but not limited to security, defence, peacekeeping, peace-building and stabilisation activity, using both Official Development Assistance (ODA) and non-ODA funding."[1]
CSSF Framework Agreement 2023–27
The CSSF Framework Agreement (2023–2027) was procured by restricted procedure under the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011, with a two-year initial term and two optional one-year extensions. Its contract award notice was published on 9 October 2023.[1][2] It has three lots:
| Lot | Themes | Estimated value (£) | Bids received | Suppliers appointed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lot 1 | Violence reduction; inclusive politics; stabilisation; security-actor reform; justice; Women, Peace and Security; climate security; serious and organised crime, illicit finance and corruption; media development | 1,650,000,000 | 136 | 103 |
| Lot 2 | Counter-terrorism; countering violent extremism; strategic communications | 600,000,000 | 72 | 37 (names "redacted on National Security grounds") |
| Lot 3 | Defence training and advice; non-lethal equipment; defence services | 750,000,000 | 44 | 27 |
Lot values and bid counts are as given by Bidstats; themes and supplier numbers are from the award notice.[1][2] The 130 Lot 1 and Lot 3 places are held by 112 different named suppliers, some of which hold places on both lots.
Investigative reporting on CSSF contracting
Middle East Eye reported in February 2020, citing leaked documents, that from 2012 UK government contractors had set up offices in Istanbul, Amman and Reyhanli. From there they recruited Syrian citizen journalists, "often without their knowledge", to promote the "moderate armed opposition". The contractors also ran opposition press offices and trained opposition spokespeople. MEE said that around nine companies, several founded by former diplomats and intelligence and army officers, were invited in late 2014 to bid for three contracts.[3] A later MEE report described an internal review which found a "major risk" that some contractor activities were "in contravention of UK law". Programmes reviewed under the MoD's Military Strategic Effects unit and the FCO's Counter-Daesh Communications Cell had combined budgets of £9.6m in 2015–16.[4] MEE also reported that the CSSF took over management of "Sarkha", an Alawite-focused platform devised by the US firm Pechter Polls, with a 2016–17 budget of £600,000.[5] In September 2020 MEE reported that the government was investigating a cyber-attack in which FCDO files on these contractors had been taken and published online.[6] The Grayzone, reporting on the leaked files, named ARK, The Global Strategy Network, InCoStrat and Albany as contractors. It said the documents' authenticity was "indirectly confirmed" by the government's statement about the hack.[7]
Declassified UK reported in 2021 that the CSSF had funded 13 projects worth £215m supporting the Syrian opposition over five years, and that the fund is "notoriously opaque, for example redacting the names of many contractors". It described the Adam Smith International-run AJACS Free Syria Police programme. The programme was suspended in 2017 after BBC Panorama allegations that funds reached extremist groups; the government and ASI denied the allegations and the programme resumed in 2018.[8] In 2022 Declassified reported more than £80m of CSSF media spending in 20 countries around Russia, and recalled a parliamentary committee's finding that the CSSF was being used as a "'slush fund'".[9] In 2018 Reprieve reported on CSSF-funded training of Bahrain's police and prisons by NI-CO and others.[10]
See also
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) Framework Agreement (2023-2027): contract award notice 029743-2023 Find a Tender Service, 2023.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Bidstats, Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) (2023) [Award] Bidstats, accessed 16 October 2026.
- ↑ Ian Cobain and Alice Ross, Middle East Eye, REVEALED: The British government's covert propaganda campaign in Syria Middle East Eye, 19 February 2020.
- ↑ Middle East Eye, EXCLUSIVE: British propaganda efforts in Syria may have broken UK law Middle East Eye, 11 May 2020.
- ↑ Middle East Eye, REVEALED: How a British-backed media operation tried to turn Alawites against Assad Middle East Eye, accessed 16 October 2026.
- ↑ Middle East Eye, EXCLUSIVE: UK government probing cyber-attack over Syria propaganda leaks Middle East Eye, 28 September 2020.
- ↑ Ben Norton, The Grayzone, Leaked docs expose massive Syria propaganda operation waged by Western govt contractors and media The Grayzone, 23 September 2020.
- ↑ Declassified UK, Revealed: The UK has spent £350-million promoting regime change in Syria Declassified UK, 20 July 2021.
- ↑ Declassified UK, UK spends over £80m on media in 20 countries around Russia Declassified UK, 8 February 2022.
- ↑ Reprieve and BIRD, Training Torturers Reprieve, May 2018.
Subcategories
This category has only the following subcategory.
Pages in category "CSSF Contractors"
The following 104 pages are in this category, out of 104 total.