3 May 1989]
THE FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
41
[Continued
5. What use has been made of the new flexibility on manpower levels available to the FCO? What variation in the "grade mix" has been made in the last 12 months?
No funds have been switched from manpower to other running cost items eg allowances, accommo- dation, transport, etc because demand has continued to exceed the available manpower resource. Funds have not been switched from other running cost items to manpower because there is adequate financial provision for the staff at present on the payroll. Once we have recruited up to the full provision we will need to consider switching as a means of funding a further increase in staff.
The FCO varies the grade mix and deploys manpower by area and function to meet operational requirements. Posts can vary locally-employed staff numbers as they think best within their local budgets.
As examples of flexible approaches to achieve our objectives:
(a) the grade provision for Home Security Officers was increased since this was cheaper than meeting
overtime/contract payments;
(b) DS10 staff were recruited and deployed in A0 jobs, since they were easier to recruit.
6. Can you explain the increase in receipts for visa and other consular services?
The increase in receipts is largely accounted for by fee increases for entry clearance services, including visas, and to a lesser extent, by fee increases for the provision of certain consular services. Part of the increase is also due to increased demands for these services.
A number of visa and entry clearance fees were increased on 1 June 1988; fees for certain consular services were also increased on 1 April 1989. The 1988-89 outturn figure for receipts will be higher than the £26.5 million estimated reflecting the fact that the visa fee increases have been in force for nine months. The latest estimate of receipts is £31.7 million.
Both sets of increases are in line with plans to recover through fees the costs of the entry clearance/ visa service by the end of 1990-91 and the costs of fee-bearing consular work by the end of 1989-90. The services would be self-financing thereafter. The target for the recovery of entry clearance/visa costs was 80 per cent in 1988-89-final outturn is not yet known but this target is likely to be exceeded. The targets for 1989-90 and 1990-91 are 90 per cent recovery and 100 per cent recovery respectively. The deficit on consular fee-bearing work fell irc.n approximately £0.8 million in 1987-88 to a little over £0.6 million in 1988-89. The latest fee increases are aimed at eliminating this deficit in 1989-90.
7. Can you provide more details of the following capital projects under subhead Cl (2): Prague Office conversion; Moscow Office conversion? Can you also describe the current position on the project for a new Embassy and Residence in Moscow, including its expected timescale and cost? Are any costs of the project included in the current year?
The Prague Office project comprises the rearrangement, refurbishment and security improvement of the office areas in the Thun Palace, a fine early eighteenth century building owned by HMG since 1926. As a preliminary to the contract, the Commercial Section has been out-housed. Work on the main contract, which is divided into five phases, began on 17 April 1989 and will take two years to complete. The contractor is Higgs and Hill and the estimated construction cost is £3 million. (This differs from the figure shown in the Estimates which is £2.1 million. The increase in the estimated cost derives from a recent study that revealed a number of structural and mechanical defects not taken account of in the original estimate. The Treasury has approved the increased cost).
The scope of the Moscow Office conversion project, intended to improve the operational and security weaknesses of the present leased buildings at Morisa-Thoreza, is still under review. Costs have to be weighed against the likely timescale of the continued occupation of Morisa-Thoreza. Meanwhile, a range of new security measures is in hand, at a cost of about £250,000.
Most of the Articles in the draft UK-USSR Building Agreement, which will govern the construction of the Embassy buildings in both London and Moscow, have been initialled: the remainder are still under negotiation. British architects are developing designs for the new buildings in Moscow: Ahrends Burton & Koralek for the offices and staff accommodation site on Smolenskaya Embankment, and Julian Bicknell, who won the design competition, for the Residence on Voyevodina Street. A panel under the chairmanship of HRH The Duke of Gloucester periodically reviews the design work.
Applications for planning permission in respect of all four sites in London and Moscow are intended in Spring 1990. It is unlikely that construction work would start before Spring 1993 and that buildings could be occupied before 1997. The cost of constructing the new buildings in Moscow is likely to be of
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