APPENDIX B
(See paragraph 10)
HER MAJESTY'S MISSIONS
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Category A.-Recommended for Immediate Approval
Reduction of Tours of Duty for Members of the Foreign Service in Posts in the Middle East Scheduled as Unhealthy (Including Khartoum) from Eighteen Months to One Year
1. This proposal would do much to mitigate the unpleasant effects of climate particularly in the Persian Gulf and therefore to make specialisation in the Middle East more attractive. It is particularly important that no officer or his family should be obliged to serve for two consecutive summers in the area without a break.
The Working Party recommends that no formal change should be made in the present leave regulations, but that the Foreign Office should be authorised to bring Foreign Service officers home on leave by air at public expense at convenient times after the completion of each year's service in these posts.
MAXIMUM ESTIMATED COST £10,000 P.A.
Upgrading of Posts at Her Majesty's Missions and Consular Posts in the Area
2. To provide a real incentive for the able and ambitious young officer to become an "Arabist," it is essential to improve the promotion prospects for Arabic Specialists who feel themselves at a disadvantage with other specialists because, owing to the extent of the Arab world they must at present expect to serve for up to two-thirds of their career in that particular area. To achieve this, the grading of some Head of Mission posts should be raised; there should be corresponding upgradings at medium levels (i.e., the post of Counsellor at Bagdad should be raised to Minister and about seven First Secretary posts should be raised to Counsellor status, i.e., the No. 2 at Beirut, Damascus, Amman, Jedda, Chargé d'Affaires to the Yemen, the Commercial post at Bahrain and the information post at Cairo). In addition, it is important to provide some fairly senior posts in the pleasanter cities to which Arab specialists can look forward as a break from the more arduous conditions in the greater part of the area. This need could be met by upgrading the posts of Consul-General at Tunis and Algiers from Grade A6 to 5, a step which the increasing importance of these posts will probably justify in any
case.
The Working Party agreed that the Treasury should be asked to give sympathetic consideration to the upgrading of these posts. The changes would not be made at once and the Foreign Office would consult the Treasury in each case.
Estimated Cost £11/12,000 A YEAR
Increased Language Allowances
3. The present Arabic language allowances are not as high as those for some other languages. An increase in the Arabic allowances to the highest existing level would provide a direct financial incentive to potential Arabists which, with the other measures proposed by the Working Party, should greatly increase the attractiveness of long service in the Middle East.
There are three classes of Arabic allowances in force, and the Working Party recommends that each should be raised by 60 per cent. to £300 a year (Branch A Higher Allowance), £150 a year (Branch A Lower Allowance), and £90 a year (Branch B Allowance).
ESTIMATED COST £4,000 P.A.
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Middle East Centre of Arab Studies (Shemlan)