Letter to the Head, Parliamentary Relations
Team, from the Committee Specialist
The Committee would be grateful for clarification
on a number of issues relating to the FCO's Departmental Report
2007-08. These are detailed below. A response by 15 December 2008
would be very much appreciated.
1. STAFFING
(a) Could you explain how the FCO takes decisions
on deploying staff, and how they assess whether Posts are over-staffed
or under-staffed?
(b) The FCO's Quarterly Management Letter of
28 April 2008 states that 40 new diplomatic and 70 new locally
engaged staff positions will be created "across the FCO network
to build the relationships that will be needed to exercise real
influence on the climate change debate throughout the world."
Where will these posts be located, will the
post holders work exclusively on climate change and what grades
will the posts be?
2. DRUGS AND
CRIME
How will the transfer of responsibility for
drugs and crime from the FCO to SOCA and the Home Office impact
on the FCO's work at the UN's Office on Drugs and Crime in Vienna?
3. FINANCIAL
MANAGEMENT
In our last Report, the Committee commented
(paragraph 102, "Foreign and Commonwealth Office Annual Report
2006-07") on the FCO's progress in professionalising its
top financial management. What progress has been made in this
respect since the Committee's last report was published?
4. FCO SUPPORT
FOR SCHOLARSHIPS
(a) A letter from the Foreign Secretary to the
Committee, dated 8 March 2008, included the following statement:
"The Schemes have had real strengths. But we need to refocus
them to ensure that these strengths are consistent. We will maintain
a global scheme, but we will focus scholarships particularly on
those countries such as China and India which are going to be
most important to our foreign policy success over coming years."
The Committee would be grateful to receive clarification
as to whether the "focus" referred to in the extract
above will result in a reduction in the number of scholarships
available to applicants in other countries and if so, which countries
and applicants will be affected and to what extent.
(b) The same letter of 8 March 2008 stated: "These
changes will free up some £10 million a year for new activity
on our new policy goals."
The Committee would be grateful for clarification
as to what "these changes" specifically refer to.
(c) Further to the memorandum from Sir Peter
Ricketts, dated 20 November 2008, the Committee would be grateful
for additional information on FCO funding for Chevening Scholarships,
Chevening Fellowships, Commonwealth Scholarships and the Marshall
Scheme.
The Committee would like to know:
— how much did the FCO spend in each
of the last three financial years on each of the programmes listed
above, and
— what is the projected FCO spend on
each of the schemes listed above for the next three financial
years.
8 December 2008
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