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Spending Reduction In The Foreign And Commonwealth Office
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Author :Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts Publisher :The Stationery Office ISBN 13 :9780215561619 Total Pages :68 pages Book Rating :4.5/5 (616 download)
Book Synopsis Spending reduction in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts
Download or read book Spending reduction in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2011-09-30 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Around half of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's budget is spent in foreign currencies. In 2008, the Treasury removed the protection it had previously provided to the Department against exchange rate fluctuations. The FCO did not have the expertise or experience to effectively manage the risk of a fall in exchange rates, and that the Treasury imposed poor value for money conditions on forward purchasing foreign currency. As a result of a decline in the value of sterling, in September 2009 the FCO faced an overspend of £91 million on its 2009-10 budget (£72 million centrally and £18.8 million overseas), out of its total budget of £1.6 billion. It made drastic cuts to reduce this overspend. The FCO did well to reduce spending so quickly, which enabled it to live within its budget. However, many of the spending cuts made were short term in nature, and involved simply delaying or stopping some activities, rather than making lasting efficiency improvements. Not enough was done to monitor and measure the impact of the cuts and there is a risk that such short term cuts can lead to increased spending in the future. The FCO needs to achieve sustainable reductions in running costs of £100 million over the next four years, and sees the overseas estate as a potential source of these efficiencies and income. But in the past, high charges have had the unintended consequence of discouraging other government departments from sharing premises.
Book Synopsis Spending reduction in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office by : Great Britain: National Audit Office
Download or read book Spending reduction in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2011-03-29 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The spending cuts made by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 2009-10 were mainly in response to exchange rate pressures and provided an early experience of the challenges the Department will face in cutting its core expenditure by 10 per cent as a result of the 2010 Spending Review. These spending cuts were a short-term response to the immediate problem of a forecast budget shortfall of £72 million. They were designed to reduce in-year spending quickly, rather than achieving long-term efficiencies. In contrast, cuts to core expenditure as required by the spending review will demand a more strategic approach. There is evidence of the Department's seeking to protect its front-line activities and intending to make reductions in spending permanent. But it could not be sure that all the cuts were implemented as intended or had the least possible impact on its business. Most of the spending reduction resulted from doing less and the NAO also estimates that about 10 per cent of cuts were achieved through simple deferral: postponing activities such as non-essential maintenance to a later year. In addition, although the Department had assessed the risks of making spending cuts, it did not have measures in place to assess the impact of the cuts on the achievement of its objectives. In February 2010 the Department had started to develop contingency plans in case further cuts were required in 2010-11. However, it did not conduct a formal evaluation of its spending reduction activities in 2009-10 and missed a valuable opportunity to learn.
Book Synopsis Spending Review 2010 by : Great Britain. Treasury
Download or read book Spending Review 2010 written by Great Britain. Treasury and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2010 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 2009-10, public expenditure rose to 48 per cent of GDP whilst income fell to 37 per cent, resulting in the largest deficit in Britain's peacetime history. This Spending Review sets out how the Coalition Government will carry out its deficit reduction plan. Particular focus has been given to reducing welfare costs and wasteful spending. This has enabled the Coalition Government to prioritise the NHS, schools, early years' provision and the capital investments designed to support long term economic growth. Departmental budgets other than health and overseas aid will be cut by an average of 19 per cent over four years. Key areas of Annually Managed Expenditure (AME) in addition to Departmental Expenditure Limits (DELs) for each government department and for the devolved administrations are covered. The Review sets out departmental spending plans for the four years until 2014-15 and further savings and reforms to welfare, environmental levies and public service pensions. The Review protects high value transport maintenance and investment, maintains the science budget, invests in apprenticeships and the low carbon economy and allows universities to increase fees from the 2012-13 academic year. Fundamental reforms will simplify the welfare system and make net savings of �7 billion a year. Social housing will be reformed and social care will receive an additional �2 billion by 2014-15. Public service reform underpins the Review: decentralisation of power; cutting burdens and regulations on front-line staff; improving transparency, efficiency and accountability of local services. Local government will have greater freedom but must work within reduced allocations. Public sector pensions will be reformed in line with Lord Hutton's recommendations. Central government administration costs will be cut by 34 per cent by 2014-15. Government departments will produce business plans later in 2010 detailing reform plans and priorities.
Book Synopsis Guidelines for Public Expenditure Management by : Mr.Jack Diamond
Download or read book Guidelines for Public Expenditure Management written by Mr.Jack Diamond and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 1999-07-01 with total page 84 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Traditionally, economics training in public finances has focused more on tax than public expenditure issues, and within expenditure, more on policy considerations than the more mundane matters of public expenditure management. For many years, the IMF's Public Expenditure Management Division has answered specific questions raised by fiscal economists on such missions. Based on this experience, these guidelines arose from the need to provide a general overview of the principles and practices observed in three key aspects of public expenditure management: budget preparation, budget execution, and cash planning. For each aspect of public expenditure management, the guidelines identify separately the differing practices in four groups of countries - the francophone systems, the Commonwealth systems, Latin America, and those in the transition economies. Edited by Barry H. Potter and Jack Diamond, this publication is intended for a general fiscal, or a general budget, advisor interested in the macroeconomic dimension of public expenditure management.
Book Synopsis Cost reduction in central government by : Great Britain: National Audit Office
Download or read book Cost reduction in central government written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2012-02-02 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report by the National Audit Office on progress by central government departments in reducing costs concludes that departments took effective action in 2010-11, cutting spending in real terms by 2.3 per cent or £7.9 billion, compared with 2009-10. The analysis of departments' accounts supports the Efficiency and Reform Group's estimate that Government spending moratoria and efficiency initiatives, including cuts to back-office and avoidable costs, contributed around half of the figure, some £3.75 billion. However, the report warns that departments are less well-placed to make the long-term changes needed to achieve the further 19 per cent over the four years to 2014-15, as required by the spending review. This is partly because of gaps in their understanding of costs and risks, making it more difficult to identify how to deliver activities and services at a permanently lower cost. Fundamental changes will be needed to achieve sustainable reductions on the scale required. It is unclear how far spending reductions represent year-on-year changes in efficiency, or whether front-line services are affected; and the departments' forward plans examined by the NAO are not based on a strategic view. Departments' financial data on basic spending patterns is sufficient to manage budgets in-year, but information about the consequences of changes in spending is less good. Longer term reform is a Cabinet Office priority and departments will need to look beyond short-term cost cutting measures and make major operational change. Cost reduction plans also need to build in contingency measures to cover unexpected risks.
Book Synopsis Foreign and Commonwealth Office Annual Report 2007-08 by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Foreign Affairs Committee
Download or read book Foreign and Commonwealth Office Annual Report 2007-08 written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Foreign Affairs Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2009 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report is the Committee's annual review of how the FCO is managing its resources, examining the departmental annual report for 2007-08 (Cm. 7398, ISBN 9780101739825). Chapters cover: new strategic framework; performance measurement; global network; essential services; FCO Services; personnel issues; transparency and openness; financial management; public diplomacy and communication; the British Council; the BBC World Service. The Committee is concerned that the FCO is facing serious financial pressures in this financial year due to the Treasury's withdrawal of its support for the Overseas Pricing Mechanism (OPM) which used to protect departments from the weakening of sterling. There is a risk that the FCO may not be able to meet higher international subscriptions over the next two financial years, causing its performance against Public Service Agreement targets to suffer. The likely increase in the UN Regular Budget and other international subscriptions will push this figure even higher. The FCO should have to shoulder the financial burden from within its already tight budget to pay for subscriptions which also benefit other Government departments. The Committee recommends that additional nondiscretionary costs should properly be met by the Treasury.
Book Synopsis FCO performance and finances by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Foreign Affairs Committee
Download or read book FCO performance and finances written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Foreign Affairs Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2011-02-11 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report focusses on the FCO's financial situation and the implications of the Spending Review 2010 for its work and performance, and that of its associated body, the British Council. The FCO is one of the major departmental 'losers' in the Spending Review. Reductions in spending on the FCO, if they result in shortfalls in skilled personnel and technical support in key countries and regions, can have a serious effect in terms of the UK's relations with foreign countries, out of all proportion to the amounts of money involved, especially in relation to the UK's security and that of its Overseas Territories. Cuts to the core FCO budget of even 10% may have a damaging effect on the Department's ability to promote UK interests overseas. The FCO will also face cuts of 55% to its capital budget. The target of raising £50 million per year through selling existing buildings may be difficult to achieve, and may not secure savings in the long-term. A further reduction in the opportunities for more junior UK-based staff to serve in overseas posts, and a consequent diminishing of experience and morale among FCO employees, could over time have a damaging effect on the quality of British diplomacy and the effectiveness of the FCO. The British Council, facing a 25% cut in spending, should give detailed information on its strategy for implementing the cut, which may well trigger fundamental rethinking of the role and work of the Council.
Book Synopsis The implications of cuts to the BBC World Service by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Foreign Affairs Committee
Download or read book The implications of cuts to the BBC World Service written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Foreign Affairs Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2011-04-13 with total page 94 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Foreign Affairs Committee believes the BBC World Service is of such value to the nation that its income should be ring-fenced against spending cuts. The Service has suffered a disproportionate reduction in its future Grant-in-Aid under the spending review settlement, by comparison with that of the 'core FCO': allowing for inflation, 16% as against 10% across the four years 2010-11 to 2014-15. High-level discussions between the Government and the BBC about a transfer of funding responsibility started only nine days before the formal announcement of the change. The report says that the decision to reduce World Service spending by 16% during the 2010 spending review period should be reversed, and resources made available for it to continue its operations at roughly the 2010-11 level of staffing and output. If the Service's funding is reduced in spite of this recommendation, the committee urges for damage limitation with an unreduced BBC Hindi and BBC China Mandarin shortwave service, and enhanced resources to BBC Arabic as required by the recent and continuing political developments in the region. Some of the activity of the World Service contributes to the wider aims of the Department for International Development, and a transfer of just 0.35% of DFID's resource budget over the next three years would compensate for the proposed 16% reduction in World Service funding. There is no reason why such a transfer should not be made if the political will to carry it out is present.
Book Synopsis HC 605 - The FCO's Performance and Finances in 2013-14 by : Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Foreign Affairs Committee
Download or read book HC 605 - The FCO's Performance and Finances in 2013-14 written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Foreign Affairs Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2015 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The cuts imposed on the FCO since 2010 have been severe and have gone beyond just trimming fat: capacity now appears to be being damaged. If further cuts are imposed, the UK's diplomatic imprint and influence would probably reduce, and the Government would need to roll back some of its foreign policy objectives. The FCO's budget is a tiny element of Government expenditure, but the FCO makes disproportionate contribution to policy making at the highest level, including decisions on whether to commit to military action. The next Government needs to protect future FCO budgets under the next Spending Review.
Book Synopsis Foreign and Commonwealth Office Annual Report 2008-09 by : Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Foreign Affairs Committee
Download or read book Foreign and Commonwealth Office Annual Report 2008-09 written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Foreign Affairs Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2010 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The FCO departmental report and resource accounts 2008-09 published as HC 460-I,II (ISBN 9780102961614)
Book Synopsis Financial management in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office by : Great Britain: National Audit Office
Download or read book Financial management in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office written by Great Britain: National Audit Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2009-06-03 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has made good progress in its financial management, aiming to establish itself as one of the best departments in Whitehall in this respect. It has shown strong leadership in raising the profile of good financial management across the Department. Up to 2007-08, however, the FCO has underspent consistently against its budget. The Department has introduced a financial management improvement programme "Five Star Finance", the aim of which is for the department to be a Whitehall leader in financial management. It currently rates itself at three and a half stars on a 1(low) to 5 (high) scale, a rating confirmed by NAO. The FCO operates in a challenging environment in terms of the global nature of its operations. The fluctuations of global currency markets pose particular difficulties for the Department. Until 2007-08, its budgets were protected by the Treasury from exchange rate fluctuations. When this protection was withdrawn, the FCO introduced alternative measures to manage its exposure, principally the forward purchase of major foreign currencies. It needs to ensure that its finance team has the right skills and experience to manage the financial risks it now faces. The FCO is taking action to avoid future underspends against its budget. In other respects, FCO's financial management has improved. The accuracy, reliability and timeliness of its financial reporting have all been enhanced. In 2007-08 it laid its accounts on 30 June, the earliest date it has ever achieved after the March year-end.
Book Synopsis The role of the FCO in UK government by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Foreign Affairs Committee
Download or read book The role of the FCO in UK government written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Foreign Affairs Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2011-05-12 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Foreign Affairs Committee believes the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) will not be back at the centre of Government and able to lead UK foreign policy, in line with the Foreign Secretary's ambitions, unless it can provide deep foreign policy expertise and judgement to underpin and implement Government decision-making. The FCO must have the resources and skills required to fulfil this role, especially specialist geographical expertise and knowledge of foreign languages. The FCO has a vital role to play for the Government, namely the timely provision of world-class foreign policy information, analysis, judgement and execution. Finances, people and buildings must be well-managed, but managerial requirements must not divert time and focus disproportionately from the FCO's core foreign policy functions. Given the resource constraints facing the FCO, however, there is doubt whether the department can achieve the Government's ambitions for enhanced commercial work while maintaining its core foreign policy functions at the required standard. The committee regards the FCO's network of overseas posts as integral to the department's ability to discharge its functions, and recommends that the FCO should seek to maintain a global UK presence. The committee also called "confusing" the fact that under the current Government the FCO has three sets of priorities: the Foreign Secretary's, the Cabinet Office's Business Plan for the department, and the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review.
Book Synopsis A Question of Security by : Michael Codner
Download or read book A Question of Security written by Michael Codner and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2011-01-30 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Britain now faces fundamental choices in organising its armed forces and military strategy - more so than at any time since the 1930s. This vital new book prepares the ground for a major government review of UK defence and security policy, analysing every important facet the review will face: from the spending constraints created by the financial crisis, to the decisions the country has to take on matters of war, peace and terrorism. The analysis covers the military equipment Britain should procure; the industrial implications of defence procurement decisions; the relationship with allies and partners; the intelligence sources; and, not least, the moral and ethical dimensions of modern security policy in a globalised but disordered world. Written by the foremost independent security and defence experts in the field, this book is the result of RUSI's Future Defence Review research initiative. 'A Question of Security' sets the core agenda for all wishing to understand the defence and security problems Britain now faces, and also for those in government and parliament who have to answer these difficult questions at a generational moment for UK defence policy.
Book Synopsis UK Foreign Policy and Government Guide Volume 1 Strategic Information and Developments by : IBP USA
Download or read book UK Foreign Policy and Government Guide Volume 1 Strategic Information and Developments written by IBP USA and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2013-08 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 2011 Updated Reprint. Updated Annually. UK Foreign Policy and Government Guide
Book Synopsis FCO Performance and Finances 2011-12 by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Foreign Affairs Committee
Download or read book FCO Performance and Finances 2011-12 written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Foreign Affairs Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2013-04-19 with total page 114 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Foreign Affairs Committee publishes a wide-ranging report on the work of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and two of its sponsored bodies, the BBC World Service and the British Council. It makes key recommendations on language skills for top diplomats, BBC World service funding and priorities, and funding for the British Council. For the FCO, the exclusion of foreign language skills and reliance purely on general management competencies creates the risk of credibility in respect of key diplomatic postings. The Committee finds it unacceptable that the World Service will not know its budget, priorities or objectives before the transition to licence fee funding and the new arrangements for oversight by the BBC Trust from April 2014. The British Council will struggle to deliver the UK's foreign policy objectives if cuts to grant funding from the FCO continue at a similar rate. The Committee recommends that the FCO should shield the British Council from the effect of any further cuts to the FCO budget in 2015-16.
Book Synopsis Foreign and Commonwealth Office annual report 2006-07 by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Foreign Affairs Committee
Download or read book Foreign and Commonwealth Office annual report 2006-07 written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Foreign Affairs Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2007-11-19 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report is the Committee's annual review of how the FCO is managing its resources. This year a key area off interest has been the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review because the Committee think it is one of the tightest in Whitehall and it risks jeopardising some of the FCO's important work. Apart from this the other subjects covered are: measuring performance; operational efficiency; management and leadership; FCO services; diplomatic representation overseas; transparency and openness; public diplomacy; British council; BBC World Service.
Book Synopsis Departmental annual report 2010-11 by : Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Foreign Affairs Committee
Download or read book Departmental annual report 2010-11 written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Foreign Affairs Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2012-04-13 with total page 124 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despite the impressive performance of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in representing the UK's interests across the globe with what is, in Governmental terms, a particularly small budget, the Foreign Affairs Committee believes that the FCO is under-funded. This situation has been exacerbated by the Spending Review 2010 and the lack of detail provided by the FCO and the BBC World Service as to exactly how the spending reductions target will be met is disappointing. There are concerns about the steps taken by the FCO to adjust to its reduced budget: reductions in the deployment of UK-based staff overseas and the optimistic planned programme of property sales will have a detrimental impact on the ability of the UK to protect its interests overseas. The establishment of the European External Action Service (EEAS) will place a further strain on the FCO's resources. The Committee welcomes the appointment of Lord Williams of Baglan to the post of "International Trustee" with responsibility for the BBC World Service, but reiterates its belief that a formal concordat governing the World Service's budget and output should be drawn up setting out the World Service's independence from budgetary pressures elsewhere in the BBC. The budget cuts faced by the British Council will lead to the Council becoming a substantially different organisation by the end of the Spending Review period. The greater emphasis that the British Council will place on commercial activity risks a diminution of the UK's influence and soft power.
