Letter to the Clerk of the Committee from
the Parliamentary Relations and Devolution Department, Foreign
and Commonwealth Office, 6 July 2004
TRAVEL ADVICE
Following the Foreign Secretary's Written Statement
on 22 June, in which he announced his decision to adopt Option
(e) of the Travel Advice Review, we have updated our Guidance
to Departments and Posts.
I enclose a copy for the Committee's attention.
Matthew Hamlyn
Head, PRDD
TRAVEL ADVICE:
GUIDANCE FOR
DEPARTMENTS AND
POSTS AS
AT 28 JUNE
2004
Travel Advice—general guidance
1. Travel Advice is the FCO's biggest interface
with the public. Ministers, MPs, the media, the tourism industry
and the travelling public all take a very close interest in it.
It is the responsibility of the geographical department, in close
liaison with posts overseas, to make sure it remains current,
clear, and consistent. There must be no double standards between
Travel Advice and advice to British nationals by Posts and Whitehall.
— Current: You must amend your
Travel Advice whenever anything significant occurs, or is about
to occur, in your country. Travel Advice should be checked at
least once a month to ensure that it is still current. It must
be re-published at least every three months. Where the advice
is against travel, or all but essential travel, to the whole country,
the Travel Advice should be updated once a month. Geographical
desk officers and Posts should have it as one of their objectives
to ensure that the Travel Advice for their countries is kept up-to-date
and under constant review.
— Clear: The Travel Advice must
be written in clear, unambiguous language, understandable to everyone
who reads it. Remember your audience is the general public. The
Plain English Campaign recommends that we use shorter sentences
and active verbs. And they like sentences beginning with conjunctions.
They recommend that we make greater use of the second person;
to direct the text at the reader.
— Consistent: Deputy Heads of
geographical departments should have it as a personal objective
to ensure that the Travel Advice given for countries across their
department is consistent, clear and current. Travel Advice Section
in Consular Crisis Group, and CTPD, can help with advice on wording.
— No Double Standards: Posts
and Whitehall must ensure that advice given to local British communities,
businesses, NGOs etc, and to HMG staff is consistent with the
Travel Advice as it appears on the FCO website. Any advice given
out by Post, such as Wardens' Messages, must be cleared with the
geographical department first (or, out of hours, through the FCO
Response Centre).
TRAVEL ADVICE—FORMAT
AND CONTENT
Format
2. The standard format is set out at Annex
A. The Summary should consist of a series of bullet-points (normally
up to five or six) highlighting key travel information. Many website
users spend only the minimum time looking at the Travel Advice
pages, and callers to the Call Centre often only ask for the Summary
to be read out. So it is important that this contains all pertinent
information, including any areas of the country where we advise
against travel—this should be the first bullet-point. There
should be at least one bullet-point on terrorism. The rest should
aim to give as good an all-round picture as possible. The final
bullet point should be a standard one on the need to have up-to-date
travel and medical insurance. The only other mandatory section
is "Safety and Security", of which the first sub-section
must cover Terrorism. There may be sensible exceptions to this
and where we might need a more general Terrorism/Security Section,
eg where the line is blurred between terrorism and civil insurgency.
Content
3. Following the conclusion of the Review
of Travel Advice, the Foreign Secretary has said that we should
continue to prescribe against travel based on non-terrorist threats
(coups, civil unrest, natural disasters) as before. But we should
confine such prescriptions in the case of intelligence-based terrorist
threats to situations of extreme and imminent danger—ie
if the threat is sufficiently specific, large-scale or endemic
to affect British nationals severely. We will still issue warnings
of imminent attacks (eg "we believe terrorists are in the
final stages of planning attacks) but will not prescribe action
unless the threat is imminent and extreme.
4. The Foreign Secretary would like the
"Safety and Security" section of Travel Advice to focus
primarily on a factual description of the risks or dangers in
the country concerned (be it terrorist threats, civil unrest,
crime, health or local travel related), to enable travellers to
make informed decisions on whether to travel. Where the Travel
Advice recommends against travel, it should include a description
of the events or threats that underlie this recommendation. When
advising against travel to a border area, as much information
as possible should be included eg how far the area to be avoided
extends (both along and away from the border), any major landmarks/towns
that might pinpoint the area concerned. Annex B contains advice
on what should, and should not, go in the sections on terrorism,
and how to describe the threat from terrorism.
TRAVEL ADVICE—WHAT
MIGHT LEAD
TO A
CHANGE AND
WHAT SHOULD
YOU DO?
5. There are three main starting points
that might lead to a decision being taken to change Travel Advice.
Changes on the ground:
When there are significant changes in the situation
in a country (violence, natural disaster, epidemic), the Post
should email suggested amendments to the Travel Advice to the
geographical department (as tracked changes on the current TA),
copied to Angela Beuden in Travel Advice Section. If the changes
are simple factual ones, the geographical department can authorise
publication and they will be put on the website. If the changes
occur out of office hours and need to be reflected in the Travel
Advice, please send them to the FCO Response Centre (copied to
Angela Beuden).
Changes in the terrorist threat:
When a new threat assessment is received from
JTAC, you should read it (your Department should have arrangements
in place for the regular monitoring and distribution of incoming
material). CTPD will also alert the geographical desk officer
and SSU by email when it sees an incoming JTAC report. It is up
to the geographical desk officer to check that the Travel Advice
is satisfactory and covers any new credible threat. You should
contact the CTPD Threats Officer if in any doubt as to what action
to take. It may be necessary to have an internal meeting to discuss
a new threat report and how it impacts on Travel Advice—again
CTPD can advise and also convene a meeting if necessary. Annex
C contains further guidance on the process of making Travel Advice
changes relating to terrorism.
Following a terrorist or significant incident:
Departments must make an immediate factual change
to the Travel Advice following any terrorist or other significant
incident, if necessary saying that the advice is under review
(eg "Following the explosion at "x" on "date",
this advice is being reviewed"). This should be done as quickly
as possible, ideally within the hour if in working time, three
hours outside working time. The initial factual amendment about
a terrorist incident should be cleared with CTPD, if time allows.
The Deputy Head of the geographical department should clear all
other factual changes, copying in DGCA and Ministers as necessary
(e-mails will suffice). If, following the initial factual amendment,
further changes need to be submitted on, it is essential that
this process is done as quickly as possible. You should warn Private
Offices and Press Office that a submission is being prepared.
Private Offices will ensure that any Travel Advice submissions
are passed onto another Minister, if their Minister cannot look
at it.
TRAVEL ADVICE—KEY
CONSIDERATIONS
6. The Director General for Corporate Affairs
(DGCA) is the senior official responsible for Travel Advice. He
should be consulted on all but routine or urgent factual changes.
Where an incident has happened and it is imperative to put a factual
statement about it into the Summary as quickly as possible, the
changes should be made and DGCA copied in on them.
7. The Foreign Secretary should be consulted
where:
— There are substantive changes because
of terrorist threats;
— It is proposed to change the level
of advice (eg to advise against travel or when the advice against
travel will be dropped);
— It is proposed not to change the
advice despite worrying new intelligence of a terrorist threat;
— There is disagreement between London
and the Post, or between FCO departments;
— Where the proposed change to the
Travel Advice would be particularly sensitive for the country
concerned; or
— When the threat from terrorism is
of extreme concern.
8. Where substantive amendments are being
made because of non-terrorism related situations (eg coups, civil
disturbance, natural disaster, epidemics), clearance should be
through DGCA and, as necessary, geographical Ministers, side-copied
to the Private Secretary.
9. When the Foreign Secretary is not contactable,
substantive changes to Travel Advice should be cleared through
DGCA and the relevant geographical Minister.
10. All submissions to Private Offices should
go through the DGCA. When DGCA is away, he will appoint another
DG to clear Travel Advice changes. If in doubt whether to submit,
geographical departments should consult Travel Advice Section
or DGCA's office. See Annex D for a model submission.
11. When considering a proposed significant
change in Travel Advice, the Foreign Secretary will want to know
whether other key governments are also changing their advice and
whether we shall be significantly out of line with them. You can
view the current travel advice on other government websites via
the travel section of the FCO website. Travel Advice Section has
daily telephone contact with opposite numbers in the US State
Department and regular contact with Canada, Australia, New Zealand,
France and Germany, to discuss Travel Advice.
12. Other government departments will occasionally
need to be consulted eg Dept for Transport for aviation/maritime
issues, DoH for health matters, Home Office for football matches.
If the threat is serious, or when taking action has sensitive
implications, COBR (Cabinet Office plus concerned Whitehall Departments)
may meet to discuss further action, including Travel Advice amendments.
TRAVEL ADVICE—IMPLEMENTATION
13. Once a change in Travel Advice has been
agreed, the geographical department should send the final text
to Travel Advice Section (by e-mail to Angela Beuden; TAS staff
monitor her e-mail in her absence), who will publish it on the
FCO website. Out of office hours (ie between 1730 and 0900), it
should be sent to the FCO Response Centre (Tel no 020 7008 3350,
email: fcoresponsecentre@fco.gov.uk) and copied to Angela Beuden.
14. The geographical department should also
inform the Post(s) concerned and Press Office. Where it is decided
(by the geographical department/Press Office/Minister's Office)
to make a press announcement of the change (in London and/or the
Post), Press Office should liaise with Travel Advice Section (or,
out of hours, the Response Centre) so that the timing can be co-ordinated
with publication on the FCO website. The geographical department
and Press Office should also consider whether there is a requirement
for Q and As to supplement the change in Travel Advice.
15. The geographical department should send
a COREU once a significant change (eg advising against travel)
has been approved. Include the acronyms COTER, COCON and COACD
in the subject line of the COREU. Heads of Mission may also wish
to inform their host government, and will want to let their EU
colleagues know as soon as change has been agreed.
TRAVEL ADVICE—AND
FINALLY
16. Ministers regularly state in Parliament
and in correspondence that FCO Travel Advice is under constant
review and is checked at least once a month. Departments should
keep going back to the Travel Advice for their countries on a
regular basis, considering with Posts whether language needs up-dating
or weeding. Changes should be made as circumstances dictate and
not necessarily saved for the monthly check.
Consular Crisis Group
June 2004
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