52
3 May 1989]
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE
Sir PATRICK WRIGHT, KCMG, Mr D BLATHERWICK, OBE, Mr D Moss, CMG, Miss C PESTELL, CMG, Mr G Griffiths and Mr AR PAUL
[Mr Temple-Morris Conid]
you to those, distribution of diplomatic wing over- seas resources by geographical area and by func- tion. I want to ask just a few questions. In the context of priorities, I want to ask how much I hope that it will be sufficiently-you are creating your own priorities rather than just responding to the pressures that seem to be leaping up all over the world. If one looks at those two charts, and particularly the geographical distribution, is the distribution the result of your own decision in a perfect world or is it a mixture of that as an intelli- gent response?
(Sir Patrick Wright) It is, I think, always going to be a mix of the two, but we are operating a system from posts and from departments of getting priorities and objectives on a regular annual basis and, indeed, posts are encouraged to review those objectives at regular intervals within that annual pattern. This system of setting priorities and objectives at the level of posts and departments moves upwards into what we call the top manage- ment round, which attempts every year in the con- text of preparing for public expenditure bid to put together these priorities and objectives and set overall objectives and priorities for the service as a whole. That takes into account a changing world, of course, so that as the priorities and objectives change so this to some extent is responsive. If we find that the economic prosperity of a country has increased very considerably over a period, clearly the need to set higher priority on commercial work or economic work in that country will increase.
117. How much is this an annual review and how much is it the development of a long-term strategy? Could you give a little more definition on the top management round because it seems to me that there are very important decisions that have to be taken here with the Pacific rim on the one hand against Eastern Europe on the other?
(Sir Patrick Wright) It is very much both, that is to say, there is an overall statement of objectives and priorities, approved by Ministers of course, which is an attempt to set an overall strategy. Within that overall strategy there are more precise shorter term objectives and priorities. The overall strategy, which is set out in the White Paper, is a broad attempt to set priorities for the service. Within that the top management round tries to set shorter term priorities and against that make decisions and recommendations on how staff should be redeployed and how funds should be redeployed and, indeed, whether additional bids are required both for manpower and for expenditure.
118. Coming down from the lofty heights of long-term plans to next year, can you give some examples of the sort of decision that might be taken or the priorities that might be fixed?
(Sir Patrick Wright) It would be easier if I con- centrate on the past year rather than next year. Just as an example, over the last two years as a result of this top management round and this procedure of setting objectives and priorities and trying to fit manpower to those objectives, we have increased
[Continued
our manpower in the Pacific rim, we have added a new first secretary in chancery and a third com- mercial secretary in Peking, and we have upgraded the energy commercial post in Peking. We have added a new second secretary for technology in Singapore. We have added a new second secretary, commercial, in Tokyo specifically to help run the Focus Japan exercise. In Moscow we have added additional first secretaries in chancery and in the information section. In Eastern Europe we have added a new third secretary in Budapest. I just give those as examples. The redeployment within the overall manpower level is always going to be fairly minor. We look each year at whether there are posts that we ought either to close or to open. Sometimes I am afraid other people take those decisions for us, as you know. We look at that also. I hope that gives you some idea of the sort of redeployment.
119. Yes, I am grateful. Let me take you on now to another heading, if I may refer to page six of Command 602, the emergence of multilateral pol- itical work, the last section of paragraph nine. That deals with, it seems to me, an obvious growth point requiring-this is just by way of a sideline comment-slightly different skills from your nor- mal bilateral diplomacy. I am talking about all the politicking that goes on in the European Com- munity, the United Nations and other multilateral work. Can you give any comments about this gen- erally and if possible quantify this particular growth area?
(Sir Patrick Wright) First, it is undoubtedly true that the multilateral work in the service has increased enormously over the last few years. The most significant increase came with our accession to the European Communities. Multilateral work is very much the staff of diplomacy. The sort of multilateral work that our mission to the United Nations engages in is the real day-to-day diplo- macy of trying to change votes, to influence people and to get things done; and the same of course is true of the permanent representation in the European Communities and other multilateral posts. However, there has indeed been a change in emphasis from bilateral to multilateral work, and that is certainly reflected in the staffing of our posts abroad. I have not done it, but I think if you were to compare the size of our posts and the grading of our posts in, for instance, New York, Geneva and Brussels now with what it was 20 years ago you would find a very significant shift towards multi- lateral work. Perhaps I may give some examples in the office at home. Within the last few years we have created several new departments to deal with multilateral work. We have had for a very long time of course a United Nations department and we have had for a very long time two European Communities departments. We have in the last year or so created a narcotics control and Aids department which is concerned sometimes with bilateral work but mostly with multilateral work in the drugs and Aids field. We have also created a security co-ordination department which deals with the whole field of security work but now forms
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