Select Committee on Foreign Affairs Written Evidence


Further supplementary memorandum submitted by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

SAN FRANCISCO RESIDENCE

Letter to the Chairman of the Committee from the Permanent Under Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, 28 October 2003

  In the course of the Evidence Session on 14 October, the Foreign Affairs Committee requested some additional information about the sale of the Consul-General's Residence in San Francisco.

  As requested, I attach a note (Annex A) summarising the costs of ingoings for the new Residence at Presidio Terrace. Both the work contracts and consultant's commissions were competitively tendered. As you will see, a large proportion of the costs relate to health and safety and security. Other costs were also necessarily incurred in order to adapt the house to the representational needs of he Consul-General. We have deliberately invested sufficient resources in the new Residence to ensure that it achieves a high representational standard, and also to reduce future maintenance costs. The final cost outturn is likely to be in the region of £640,000 compared to an earlier estimate of £680,000. As you will know, both these figures are somewhat less than our first estimate of the likely costs of ingoings contained in the financial analysis which informed the decision to change Residences: this initial estimate was £750,000.

  The Committee also expressed interest in Sir Christopher Meyer's views about the sale of the Residence. I attach a note which sets these out in some detail (Annex B).

  Finally, the Committee requested further information on how disabled access to the new Residence compared with arrangements at the old house. I can confirm that the old Residence (Pacific Heights) made no provision for the disabled. The Committee will recall that it is our intention to add a new conference facility to our existing offices in San Francisco. Increasingly, we try to achieve complementarily between the facilities offered by the office amid Residence in any Post. This new conference suite will cater fully for the needs of the disabled. Our new Consul-General, Martin Uden, expects to use this facility extensively. So the replacement of the conference facility in Pacific Heights with a new conference suite in the offices will, in fact, improve our ability to cater for the needs of the disabled.

Sir Michael Jay KCMG,

The Permanent Under Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office

October 2003

Annex A

SAN FRANCISCO: COSTS OF NEW RESIDENCE FIT-OUT
£
Works
Health and Safety158,000
Security20,000
Refurbishment149,000
New works53,000
380,000
Other works
Temporary accommodation for Consul General and moving costs 36,000
Fees
Project management and consultants116,000
Furnishings
Curtains, carpets, new furniture and repairs to old furniture 108,000
Project Total640,000


Foreign and Commonwealth Office

October 2003


Annex B

NOTE ON SIR CHRISTOPHER MEYER'S OBJECTIONS IN 2000 TO THE SALE OF THE CONSUL-GENERAL'S RESIDENCE IN SAN FRANCISCO, AS RECORDED IN FCO CORRESPONDENCE

  1.  Sir Christopher Meyer based his approach on three principles: public diplomacy formed a large part of the diplomatic effort across the United States; both offices and Residences mattered; and we needed real value for money from capital assets.

  2.  Sir Christopher drew attention to the importance of San Francisco, deriving from its proximity to Silicon Valley, and as a financial services centre. He thought it would be "irrational" to undermine the ability of the Consul-General and his team to achieve their objectives. A move to the suburbs would be hard to explain; he objected to any suggestion of choosing a house located across the Golden Gate Bridge. He was concerned about the amount of time already spent by the then Consul-General in looking for alternative accommodation; and that the then Consul-General not be moved before his retirement in July 2001. He agreed, however, that there was potentially a resource accounting and budgeting case for selling the current house and renting an adequate "downtown" alternative.

  3.  After the Board meeting in October 2000, Sir Christopher confirmed his willingness to examine alternatives to the then residence in San Francisco but only if a suitable property could be found. He was pessimistic about the time needed to do so.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

October 2003





 
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