Letter to the Chairman of the Foreign
Affairs Committee from the Secretary of State for Foreign and
Commonwealth Affairs
FCO STRATEGY
1. I am writing to update you on the progress
we have made in bringing a sharper strategic focus to the FCO's
work.
2. Ministers and the Board have worked intensively
over recent months on the FCO's Strategy. We have identified those
issues which are both important and where the FCO adds real value.
We also wished to recognise the importance of using our network
to deliver for HMG as a whole. This means dropping the ten Strategic
Priorities, in line with the FAC's own recommendations on our
2006-07 Departmental Report.
3. My aim in this exercise has been to give
the Foreign Office greater clarity about its role, and a more
strategic set of objectives. After a period of internal debate
that drew on contributions from stakeholders and the public, we
have now agreed the main features of a new strategic framework
for the FCO. The new framework has three elements, reflecting
the three main roles of the FCO:
(i) shaping and delivering HMG's foreign policy.
Within this we have agreed four new policy priorities on which
the FCO itself will focus: countering terrorism and proliferation;
promoting a low carbon/high growth global economy; reducing and
preventing conflict; and developing effective international institutions,
especially the UN and EU;
(ii) delivering services to the British public
and business on behalf of HMG: our consular operation, UK
Trade and Investment, and UKvisas (due to be absorbed into the
new UK Border Agency next year); and
(iii) providing a flexible global network,
for the first time explicitly recognising the value of our global
network and its role in delivering for the Government as a whole.
In addition to delivering our new policy goals and our essential
services, our posts will continue to support the rest of Whitehall
in delivering their own international priorities.
4. This new strategic framework means moving
away from the ten existing Strategic Priorities. The "SPs"
provided the FCO with a useful output-focused description of its
objectives, and a framework for cascading these objectives to
our network of posts. But the SPs failed to distinguish between
policy and service delivery, and they failed to genuinely prioritise.
As the FAC recommended in your response to our 2006-07 Departmental
Report, "10 strategic priorities is too many" and should
be "simplified and reduced in number"[2].
5. The four new policy goals represent this
simplification, a sharpening of focus for the FCO, enabling us
to concentrate on those areas where we can make the greatest difference.
We intend to put more resources into these new priorities, enabling
us to deliver more for Britain.
6. In order to free up resources to do this,
we need to reduce the resources we put into other issues. Our
objective is for the HMG's international agenda to be delivered
in the most effective way possible, so we are looking at making
reductions in those areas where other government departments have
a competitive advantage, for example, where they have the policy
lead and the greater expertise. Even in these cases, the FCO network
will continue to provide advice and lobbying, and a platform on
which other Whitehall Departments can put their own people and
resources to deliver their international priorities.
7. We are also planning to shift resources
away from more developed countries, primarily Europe (where we
have a historically strong presence but the rest of Whitehall
finds it fairly easy to operate), to countries where the FCO can
offer more value added, primarily Asia and the Middle East.
8. My officials and I are working on the
resource decisions that flow from the new framework, and discussing
the details of these changes with the relevant Government departments.
The outcome of these deliberations will enable us to work out
the full implications, and thus to finalise, the new strategic
framework, which we hope to announce early in the new year.
9. In my view, this is an excellent time
for refreshing the FCO's Strategy, ensuring consistency with the
new Public Service Agreements and compatibility with the resources
we have available for the new CSR period. The new strategic framework
is also a timely response to the Capability Review's call on us
to more clearly articulate our distinctive contribution to delivering
the UK's objectives overseas.
10. I believe the result will be an FCO
that has a clearer sense of purpose and a more strategic set of
priorities, deploying our limited resources to maximise the benefits
for Britain.
11. I would like to keep you informed as
we work through the details of the new strategic framework, and
invite members of the FAC to meet with me to discuss the issue
in January.
David Miliband
7 December 2007
2 Recommendation 13. Back
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