Memorandum from the Foreign and Commonwealth
Office
FCO TRAVEL ADVICE
Letter from the Clerk of the Committee
to the Parliamentary Relations and Devolution Department
In paragraph 249 of its Report on Foreign Policy
Aspects of the War against Terrorism, published today[1],
the Committee asks the Government to supply "a full description
of the process according to which travel advice is agreed among
Government departments. Specifically, we seek details of the process
of collating information in this area; of the relationship between
the FCO and the Joint Intelligence Committee in deciding travel
advice; and full details of the organisational structure and decision-making
process within the Foreign Office, at both official and ministerial
level, for the taking of travel advice decisions and issuing them
to the public." I am writing on the instructions of the Committee
to request that the information be supplied in the form of a memorandum
of evidence not later than 27 January 2003, and to elaborate on
the request made in the Report.
In dealing with the recommendation, the memorandum
should therefore include, but need not be confined to, answers
to the following questions:
1. What are the terms of reference of the
FCO review of the way in which travel advice is prepared and presented?
When and to whom will it report? Will the report be published?
If all or part of the report is not to be published, may the Committee
receive a full copy on a confidential basis?
2. Which are the sources of information
for travel advice? Please list all, including HMG sources, other
governments, their agencies, and any non-governmental sources,
with an indication of the importance to the process of each.
3. What are the internal FCO procedures
for preparing and revising travel advice? What is the involvement
of other Government departments or agencies, including the JIC?
Please set out in detail all internal and external lines of communication,
at official and at ministerial levels, and if possible please
include diagrammatic representations of the process.
4. What procedures are in place for ensuring
that sources' assessments are translated promptly and accurately
into travel advice?
5. What guidance is issued (a) to the Travel
Advice Unit (or to Consular Division as a whole), (b) to Posts,
(c) to desk officers, (d) to Ministers and (e) to others in the
FCO on the preparation or revision of travel advice? Please append
to the memorandum copies of all such guidance.
6. At what level in the FCO is each revision
of travel advice signed off?
7. What coordination is there of (a) decisions
taken in the interests of the safety of Posts, such as the withdrawal
of staff or their dependants, (b) advice to British expatriates,
and (c) travel advice?
8. Your memorandum to the Committee of 28
October 2002 states that travel advice "is automatically
reviewed monthly." What is the process by which such automatic
reviews are carried out? Who takes the decision to move from automatic
review to more frequent reviews?
9. What comparative studies have been undertaken
of the travel advice systems used by
other countries'?
10. What coordination is there of (a) assessments
of information and (b) preparation of travel advice by the FCO
and by the ministries of foreign affairs of other countries, particularly
the US, Australia and EU member states? Are there any proposals
to enhance liaison at EU level, or any relevant CFSP developments?
11. What consultation is there on the preparation
of FCO travel advice with authorities in countries which are the
subject of that advice?
12. What external advice has the Travel
Advice Unit sought or received on the dissemination and presentation
of travel advice?
13. What concerns have been raised in the
last two of the twice yearly meetings between Consular Division
and the travel industry?
14. Which organisations receive daily faxed
updates from the Travel Advice Unit? How often is the list revised?
What steps does the Unit take to ensure that newly prepared or
revised advice reaches those most likely to require it?
The Committee wishes to receive the fullest
possible answers to these questions. Material of a confidential
or classified nature should be clearly marked as such and should
be included as separate appendices.
Clerk of Committee
19 December 2002
1 Foreign Affairs Committee, Second Report of Session
2002-03, Foreign Policy Aspects of the War against Terrorism,
HC 196, Ev 69-71. Back
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