8 Overall approach to consular services
Consular work is a very personal business. It
touches the lives of British citizens in difficult and sometimes
extreme circumstances. It is the only way most people come into
contact with the Foreign Office, and it is one of our main responsibilities
as a Department.
— William Hague, then Foreign Secretary,
4 April 2012.[174]
Conclusion
111. We are satisfied that the Consular Service is
one of the FCO's top priorities in reality, as well as on paper,
and that considerable thought and creativity has gone into the
delivery of improved consular services. The FCO has made major
improvements to its consular service over the last eight years,
with sensible and effective innovations such as the call centres,
the crisis centre, and the reduction in notarial services.
112. In making these improvements, consular staff
have experienced major changes to the way in which they work and
significant reductions to the consular team, which can have an
effect on morale. The officials we met in Spain and London were
impressive and dedicated professionals, and it is important to
ensure that both locally engaged and UK-based staff are engaged
with the process and see benefits for themselves in their own
work. We consider that the organisational changes have been
generally well-handled, but further changes, particularly further
reductions in staff or consulates, risk damaging morale.
113. The general public often has unrealistic expectations
about the FCO's services, as demonstrated by the examples of trivial
and ludicrous requests made to the Consular Service.[175]
It is understandable and right that the FCO wants to lower expectations
and ensure British nationals understand what it can and cannot
do for them, and to ask British nationals to be responsible and
well-prepared. As the Foreign Secretary observed in 2012, "An
effective consular service does not mean a nanny state."[176]
British nationals must share the responsibility for their own
safety and security abroad. The FCO's public messaging campaigns
to improve understanding of its services, and what British nationals
can legitimately expect from such services, are a sensible measure.
114. The FCO's aspiration to be the 'best consular
service in the world' by 2016 is ultimately an impossible goal
to measure, but it is fine as an expression of commitment to improve.
The consular management team engaged with our inquiry fully and
were clearly seeking ways to improve the delivery of the consular
service. The succession of consular strategies since 2007 indicates
that considerable resources are directed toward strategic change
and professionalization of the service. This is important, given
that our evidence shows that there is still inconsistency in practice
from post to post and individual to individual. It was disappointing
to hear that what one charity considered to be good practice was
dismissed as 'over-delivery'. In the same light, we sympathise
with Reprieve and Prisoners Abroad, who regretted that the FCO
no longer uses the term 'protection', and instead offers 'assistance'.
In this, the FCO risks going too far away from its unique role:
it is not an organisation like any other that offers assistance
to its customers: it is the Government's consular service that
provides support and protection to British nationals abroad. Setting
clear core levels of service has undoubtedly brought improvement,
and benefits can already be clearly seen, though the FCO should
continue to ensure that inconsistencies and problems are identified
and addressed. Nonetheless, as the Consular Directorate proceeds
in implementing changes, it is important not to dehumanise and
minimise the service in the pursuit of professionalisation or
excessive cost-cutting. The FCO provides vital services with limited
resources when nationals are suffering under difficult circumstances.
To many, it is a lifeline and a comfort in times of great need.
It should rightly be proud of its work.
174 Speech by the Foreign Secretary, the Rt Hon William
Hague MP, Looking after our own: strengthening Britain's consular diplomacy,
4 April 2012, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, London Back
175
See, for example, "British Consulate: We're not directory
enquiries", Foreign and Commonwealth Office press release,
10 November 2011 Back
176
Speech by the Foreign Secretary, the Rt Hon William Hague MP,
Looking after our own: strengthening Britain's consular diplomacy,
4 April 2012, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, London Back
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