ANNEX A
Resources Deployed in the United States
Staff
1. In the US, our Posts spent almost £24
million on administration and local staff pay in the financial
year 2000-01. Approximately 50% of this amount was spent on the
482 locally-engaged staff employed in government offices throughout
the US.
Staff Numbers for Posts in USA
| Post | UK Staff
| Local Staff | Total
|
| Atlanta | 2 | 20
| 22 |
| Boston | 2 | 18
| 20 |
| Chicago | 4 | 36
| 40 |
| Dallas | 1 | 3
| 4 |
| Denver | 1 | 1
| 2 |
| Houston | 3 | 16
| 19 |
| Los Angeles | 4 | 37
| 41 |
| Miami | 4 | 10
| 14 |
| New York (UK Mission to the UN) | 39
| 13 | 52 |
| New York-(Consulate-General) | 11
| 57 | 68 |
| New York (British Information Services) |
1 | 21 | 22 |
| New York (Joint Management Office) | 3
| 36 | 39 |
| Orlando | 0 | 4
| 4 |
| Phoenix | 0 | 1
| 1 |
| San Francisco | 3 | 21
| 24 |
| San Juan | 0 | 2
| 2 |
| Seattle | 1 | 6
| 7 |
| Washington | 79 | 180
| 259 |
| Totals | 158
| 482 | 640 |
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Numbers include staff from other Government Departments but
not those in the British Defence Section in Washington or those
members of the Film Office in Los Angeles not paid by the FCO.
2. Over the last two years, two new UK Posts have opened
in the US: a Consulate in Denver, Colorado, and a Trade and Investment
Office in Phoenix, Arizona. Our science and technology network
in the US is expanding, reflecting a major commitment to technology
transfer work, and eight new staff will be based in Boston, San
Francisco, Houston and Los Angeles (in addition to the existing
five in Washington).
3. On and after 11 September, the Consulate-General in
New York gave a superb example of what a properly-resourced Post
can do in a crisis. Able to draw on over 60 staff (and the resources
of the other Posts in New York), the Post set up a 24-hour emergency
call centre in close communication with the crisis centres in
London and locally in New York. Setting up a separate British
Family Centre in a hotel proved invaluable in providing a first
class and discreet service to visiting families. This Centre housed
the Police Family Liaison Officers and Counsellors, in addition
to experienced Consulate-General staff. It allowed the main Consulate-General
to move back towards more normal working and to handle reporting
requirements, the media and visitors, and the `UK with NY' Festival,
to which the New York authorities attached much value as a demonstration
of solidarity.
Estate in the United States
4. The inventory of property in the United States, as
elsewhere, is continually updated, to ensure value for money.
At the moment the FCO is funding the replacement of offices in:
— Los Angeles, where the FCO will soon be starting
a project to fit out a more efficient suite of offices at a total
capital cost of £1,000,000;
— Boston, where the FCO is negotiating a lease on
new offices adjacent to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
to provide a base for the Consulate-General closer to the heart
of the high technology centre of the Eastern seaboard.
5. The FCO has recently reviewed the owned estate in
the US and agreed on the sale of properties which do not provide
good value for money. These include the current apartment of the
Consul-General in New York. The future of the over-scale San Francisco
Residence is still under consideration, with the Committee's interest
kept in mind. It was valued in March 2001 at about £9 million
and is therefore one of the most expensive properties in the US,
with an annual capital charge in excess of £500,000. The
FCO is exploring the market for a suitable alternative.
Information Technology
6. Posts in North America have been a priority for the
current programme of IT investment. In August 2000 they were the
first Posts to be connected to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Telecommunications Network (FTN). FTN, a global network on which
the Permanent Under Secretary has briefed the Committee, delivers
for the first time, reliable, secure and fast communications across
the world. The major benefits for users in North America have
been classified e-mail to London (and to other FCO posts as the
FTN network spreads) and the ability to access the internet from
a terminal on which Restricted information is also held. The FCO
is the first Diplomatic Service in the world to achieve internet
access from classified terminals in missions overseas. This investment
is a major step towards making the FCO a truly global on-line
organisation.
7. To help meet the changing demands of the US market,
an increasing amount of correspondence is dealt with electronically,
both government to government and with the public. The British
Information Services office in New York maintains a number of
well presented web-sites for posts throughout North America. Currently
the main web-site receives around 150,000 hits a week.
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