8 October 2009
A government plan to cut jobs for staff at foreign embassies has been attacked by unions.
The Public and Commercial Services union said proposals by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to replace up to 134 British diplomats with locally recruited staff were short-sighted.
General secretary Mark Serwotka said: ‘If the FCO want to make savings they should be looking at the £60m they spent on consultants last year.’
He added that ministers should step in to prevent the ‘double whammy of the threat of redundancy alongside the government’s proposals to slash civil service redundancy terms’.
The FCO said it wanted local staff to manage the day-to-day running of embassies in around 50 countries, including Iran and Iraq.
A government plan to cut jobs for staff at foreign embassies has been attacked by unions.
The Public and Commercial Services union said proposals by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to replace up to 134 British diplomats with locally recruited staff were short-sighted.
General secretary Mark Serwotka said: ‘If the FCO want to make savings they should be looking at the £60m they spent on consultants last year.’
He added that ministers should step in to prevent the ‘double whammy of the threat of redundancy alongside the government’s proposals to slash civil service redundancy terms’.
The FCO said it wanted local staff to manage the day-to-day running of embassies in around 50 countries, including Iran and Iraq.
