Letter to the Chairman of the Committee
from Rt Hon David Miliband MP, Secretary of State for Foreign
and Commonwealth Affairs
Thank you for your letter of 23 January
about a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Committee which discussed
recent failures by the FCO to issue in time visas to musicians
and performers invited to an event at the Kyrgyz Embassy in the
UK by the Kyrgyz Ambassador.
The Committee asked what action the FCO is taking
to ensure such an incident does not reoccur and what contingency
plans are now in place or in development to deal with any reoccurrence
of the "critical IT failures" which took place.
The recent loss of IT services in Almaty were
due to local interference affecting satellite connectivity and
outside the control of the FCO and its telecommunications provider.
In order to lessen the risk to our communications in places such
as Almaty, we are replacing satellite with leased line capability
where this is possible. This work was completed in Almaty on
21 November. The satellite dish in Almaty is being relocated
to provide back-up communications.
The Committee also asked whether similar IT
failures have occurred elsewhere and if so whether these have
had significant adverse consequences.
A similar interference problem was experienced
last year in Lagos; different solutions were put in place as quickly
as possible to restore service. Solutions included changing band
width to cover different channels and installation of a screen
to prevent interference. Post now have automatic failover to
an ISDN back-up link in the case of failure.
The Committee also asked what the implications
are of this incident for the FCO's hub and spoke system for visa
processing and in relation to the potential disadvantaging of
individuals applying from countries, such as Kyrgystan, in which
the FCO has no post.
The hub and spoke model consolidates the number
of visa processing centres. It does not affect the number of locations
where customers can submit their applications. The mandated collection
of biometric data from all visa applicants means that they must
visit a designated biometrics collection point. Applicants from
countries with no biometrics collection point are usually directed
to nearby, contiguous countries. One of the drivers of the hub
and spoke model is to move work from insecure locations with unreliable
logistical support into hubs on a more stable logistical platform.
As the Committee may know, we have signed global
contracts with commercial partners to standardise and extend our
existing network of Visa Application Centres (VACs). These agreements
allow us to open a Visa Application Centre in any location where
it would be economically viable. The number of applicants in
Kyrgystan do not currently justify opening such a Centre there
but we are keeping the situation under constant review.
I would like to reassure the Committee that
the FCO takes these issues very seriously and is working closely
with our telecommunications provider to resolve them as quickly
as possible. We will continue the work to replace satellite with
leased line in those places where it is possible and to review
back-up communications capability within overseas posts.
24 February 2009
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