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National Audit Office - Foreign & Commonwealth Office and UK Trade & Investment: Supporting UK Exporters - HC 732
The 2012 Budget, announced the 'ambition' to double the value of exports by 2020 to £1 trillion a year. However current performance has been flat over the last two years and, to meet the Government's ambition, exports will have to grow by 10 per cent year on year. Many factors which affect export performance are outside the control of the FCO and UKTI, such as exchange rates and political and economic changes overseas. While the UK outperforms Germany, France and Italy in the Gulf, it has not traditionally performed as well in many other emerging markets, such as Russia, Brazil, Turkey and China. Success here is essential if the Government is to meet its target. There is a joint UKTI-FCO Bo...
Foreign and Commonwealth Office Annual Report 2008-09
The FCO departmental report and resource accounts 2008-09 published as HC 460-I,II (ISBN 9780102961614)
Foreign and Commonwealth Office Annual Report 2007-08
This report is the Committee's annual review of how the FCO is managing its resources, examining the departmental annual report for 2007-08 (Cm. 7398, ISBN 9780101739825). Chapters cover: new strategic framework; performance measurement; global network; essential services; FCO Services; personnel issues; transparency and openness; financial management; public diplomacy and communication; the British Council; the BBC World Service. The Committee is concerned that the FCO is facing serious financial pressures in this financial year due to the Treasury's withdrawal of its support for the Overseas Pricing Mechanism (OPM) which used to protect departments from the weakening of sterling. There is ...
The role of the FCO in UK government
The Foreign Affairs Committee believes the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) will not be back at the centre of Government and able to lead UK foreign policy, in line with the Foreign Secretary's ambitions, unless it can provide deep foreign policy expertise and judgement to underpin and implement Government decision-making. The FCO must have the resources and skills required to fulfil this role, especially specialist geographical expertise and knowledge of foreign languages. The FCO has a vital role to play for the Government, namely the timely provision of world-class foreign policy information, analysis, judgement and execution. Finances, people and buildings must be well-managed, but ...
HC 516 - Support for British Nationals Abroad: The Consular Service
The Consular Service of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office provides vital support to British nationals overseas. It offers a wide range of services, handling anything from lost passports to kidnap, a major crisis evacuation or verification of a document. It is the FCO's public face, and it is central to its reputation at home. Britons undertaking more adventurous travel, large expatriate populations and a series of major overseas crises have tested the Consular Service in recent years. In 2013, the FCO dealt with over 450,000 consular customers, over 17,000 of whom received personal assistance. The Consular Service has responded with a "strategic shift" to provide a more standardised and pr...
Consular Services to British Nationals
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) provides a range of consular services to British nationals overseas, and when necessary, their families in the UK, including giving travel advice, issuing passports, assisting travellers in difficulty or distress, and dealing with major emergencies such as terrorist attacks or natural disasters. The total cost of consular services during 2004-05 was almost £80 million. Services are provided through over 200 diplomatic posts worldwide including embassies, high commissions and consulates. This NAO report examines the challenges involved in delivering effective consulate services, including providing high quality information to travellers and influencing the behaviour of travellers; providing a consistent frontline service with cost-effective use of resources; response to major emergencies overseas and preparedness response measures.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office annual report 2006-07
This report is the Committee's annual review of how the FCO is managing its resources. This year a key area off interest has been the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review because the Committee think it is one of the tightest in Whitehall and it risks jeopardising some of the FCO's important work. Apart from this the other subjects covered are: measuring performance; operational efficiency; management and leadership; FCO services; diplomatic representation overseas; transparency and openness; public diplomacy; British council; BBC World Service.
Adapting the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's global estate to the modern world
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office lacks a clear strategy and comprehensive data to manage its overseas estate effectively. It is taking positive steps to adapt its properties to new global challenges but has not achieved value for money in the management of its estate as a whole. Without a clear framework to assess the estate's performance, it is difficult to evaluate the Department's progress. The Department has recently appointed an estates specialist as Director of Estates and Security who is developing a new strategy which should help secure improved value for money in the future. There are several factors, such as changing political issues, security restrictions and exchange rate pres...
The efficiency programme
Government departments have been set a series of targets for implementing efficiency gains of £21.5 billion a year by 2007-08, as part of the Treasury's Efficiency Programme following on from the Gershon Review of public sector efficiency. This NAO report finds that considerable progress has been made by departments towards achieving the efficiency targets, and the Efficiency Programme has ensured a greater focus on value for money issues among senior staff. Progress has also been made in addressing measurement issues, supported by new guidance issued by the Office of Government Commerce, although some reported efficiency gains still carry a significant risk of inaccuracy. The OGC has also ...
