Entrance to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office,
Whitehall, seen from St. James’s Park
The
Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly
called the
Foreign Office or the
FCO, is the
British government
department responsible for promoting the interests of the
United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign
Office and the
Commonwealth
Office.
The head of the FCO is the
Secretary
of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, commonly
abbreviated to "Foreign Secretary" (currently
David Miliband). This position is regarded as
one of the three most prestigious appointments in the
Cabinet, alongside those of
Chancellor of the
Exchequer and
Home Secretary.
Together with the
Prime Minister, these
comprise the
Great Offices of
State.
Ministers
Ministers at the FCO, as of 9 June 2009, are as follows:
The
Permanent
Under-Secretary and Head of the Diplomatic Service is
Sir Peter Ricketts,
KCMG,
a senior
civil servant.
Shadow Secretaries
The
Conservative Party's
Shadow Secretary of State is
William Hague MP. The
Liberal Democrat spokesman is
Edward Davey MP.
History of the department
The department's origins
The FCO was formed in 1968, from the merger of the short-lived
Commonwealth
Office and the
Foreign Office. The
Commonwealth Office had been created only in 1966, by the merger of
the
Commonwealth
Relations Office and the
Colonial Office, and the
Commonwealth Relations Office had been formed by the merger of the
Dominions
Office and the
India Office in
1947—with the Dominions Office having been split from the Colonial
Office in 1925.
The Foreign Office was formed in March 1782 by combining the
Southern and
Northern
Departments of the Secretary of State, each of which covered both
foreign and domestic affairs in their parts of the Kingdom. The two
departments' foreign affairs responsibilities became the Foreign
Office, whilst their domestic affairs responsibilities were
assigned to the
Home Office.
Developments
When
David Miliband took over as
Foreign Secretary in June 2007, he set in hand a review of the
FCO’s strategic priorities. One of the key messages of these
discussions was the conclusion that the existing framework of ten
international strategic priorities, dating from 2003, was no longer
appropriate. Although the framework had been useful in helping the
FCO plan its work and allocate its resources, there was agreement
that it needed a new framework to drive its work forward.
The new strategic framework consists of three core elements
[9434]:
- A flexible global network of staff and offices, serving the
whole of the UK Government.
- Three essential services which:
- support the British economy
- support British nationals abroad and
- support managed migration for Britain.
These services are delivered through UK Trade and Investment
(
UKTI), consular teams in the UK and overseas,
and the UK Border Agency (
UKBA).
- Four policy goals to:
- counter terrorism and weapons proliferation and their
causes
- prevent and resolve conflict
- promote a low carbon, high growth, global economy and
- develop effective international institutions, in particular the
UN and the EU.
In
August 2005, a
report by
management consultant group
Collinson Grant was made public by
Andrew Mackinlay. The report severely
criticised the FCO's management structure, noting that:
- The Foreign Office could be "slow to act".
- Delegation is lacking within the management structure.
- Accountability was poor.
- 1200 jobs could feasibly be cut.
- At least £48 million could be saved annually.
The Foreign Office commissioned the report to highlight areas which
would help it achieve its pledge to reduce spending by £87 million
pounds over three years. In response to the report being made
public, the Foreign Office stated it had already implemented the
report's recommendations.
[9435]
In April 2006 a new
executive
agency was established, FCO Services, to provide corporate
service functions. In April 2008 it moved to
Trading Fund status so it had the ability to
provide similar services which it already offers to the FCO, to
other government departments and even outside businesses.
History of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office main
building
Ceiling above the Foreign Office's
State Stair, 2008
The State Stair, 2008
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office occupies a building which
originally provided premises for four separate government
departments: the Foreign Office, the India Office, the Colonial
Office, and the Home Office. Construction on the building began in
1861 and finished in 1868, and it was designed by the architect
George Gilbert Scott. Its
architecture is in the
Italianate style; Scott had
initially envisaged a
Gothic design, but the then
Foreign Secretary
Lord Palmerston
insisted on a classical style. (Palmerston was Prime Minister at
the time the building was begun, in 1861, not Foreign Secretary, a
post that he had not held since 1851.) English sculptor
John Birnie Philip produced a number of
allegorical figures ('Art', 'Law', 'Commerce', etc) for the
exterior.
In 1925, the Foreign Office played host to the signing of the
Locarno Treaties, aimed at reducing
tension in Europe. The ceremony took place in a suite of rooms that
had been designed for banqueting, which subsequently became known
as the Locarno Suite. During the Second World War, the Locarno
Suite's fine furnishings were removed or covered up, and it became
home to a foreign office code-breaking department.
Due to increasing numbers of staff, the offices became increasingly
cramped and much of the fine
Victorian interior was covered
over—especially after
World War II. In
the 1960s, demolition was proposed, as part of major redevelopment
plan for the area drawn up by architect Sir
Leslie Martin. A subsequent public outcry
prevented these proposals from ever being implemented. Instead, the
Foreign Office became a Grade 1
listed
building in 1970. In 1978, the Home office moved to a new
building, easing overcrowding.
With a new sense of the building's historical value, it underwent a
17-year, £100 million restoration process, completed in 1997. The
Locarno Suite, used as offices and storage since the Second World
War, was fully restored for use in international conferences. The
building is now open to the public each year over
Open House Weekend.
The Foreign and
Commonwealth Office is now also the main tenant of the Admiralty Extension building, at the
opposite end of Horse Guards Parade
.
List of Foreign and Commonwealth Office home properties
- FCO Main Building, Whitehall, King Charles St, London
(abbreviated to KCS by FCO staff)
- Kirkland House, 22-24 Whitehall, London.
- Old Admiralty Building, Whitehall, London (abbreviated to OAB
by FCO staff)
- Hanslope Park, Hanslope, Milton Keynes (abbreviated to HSP by
FCO staff). Location of FCO Services, HMGCC and Technical Security
Department of the UK Secret Intelligence Service)
See also
References
- Ministerial Team
- A brief history of the FCO Foreign and
Commonwealth Office
External links
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