Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, more commonly known as the Foreign Office or the FCO, is the British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom abroad. The head of the FCO is the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, commonly abbreviated to Foreign Secretary. This position is traditionally regarded as one of the three most prestigious non-Prime Ministerial appointments in the cabinet, alongside those of Chancellor of the Exchequer and Home Secretary.

In April 2006 a new executive agency was established, FCO Services, to provide corporate service functions. It is hoped that by 2007 FCO Services will acquire trading fund status and be able to provide similar services which it already offers to the FCO, to other government departments and even outside businesses.

Current ministers

Ministers at the FCO, as of 5 May 2006, are as follows:

• Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs - The Rt Hon. Margaret Beckett, MP
  • Minister of State for Europe - The Rt Hon. Geoff Hoon, MP
  • Minister of State for Trade - The Rt Hon. Ian McCartney, MP
  • Minister of State - Dr Kim Howells
  • Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs - The Rt Hon. The Lord Triesman

The current Permanent Under-Secretary and Head of the Diplomatic Service is Sir Peter Ricketts, a senior civil servant.

History of the department

The department's origins

The FCO was formed in 1968, out of 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, each of which covered both foreign and domestic affairs in their respective geographical 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.

Recent developments

On December 2, 2003, the FCO announced eight strategic priorities for the next five to ten years, in its first strategy document:

1. A world safer from global terrorism and weapons of mass destruction
2. Protection of the UK from illegal immigration, drug trafficking and other international crime.
3. An international system based on the rule of law, which is better able to resolve disputes and prevent conflicts.
4. An effective EU in a secure neighbourhood.
5. Promotion of UK economic interests in an open and expanding global economy.
6. Sustainable development, underpinned by democracy, good governance and human rights.
7. Security of UK and global energy supplies.
8. Security and good governance of the British Overseas Territories.

In August 2005, a report by management consultant group Collinson Grant was made public by Andrew Mackinlay. The report criticised the management structure of the department, 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. [1]

History of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Main building

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.

In 1925, the Foreign Office played host to the signing of the Locarno Treaties, aimed at reducing tension in Europe. The ceremony took place is 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 furninshings 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 throughout the years 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 on 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.
• Kirkland House, 22-24 Whitehall, London.
• Old Admiralty Building, Whitehall, London.
• Hanslope Park, Hanslope, Milton Keynes.

See also

• Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
• Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs
• Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations
• Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs

• Heads of the United Kingdom Mission in Japan
• British Ambassadors to the Holy See
• Department for International Development
• British diplomatic missions

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