Letter crompton to segar bob staffing security and accommodation

Dear Chris ) BOB STAFFING, SECURITY AND ACCOMMODATION 1. Thank you for various pieces of recent correspondence about your plans for developing BOB, which covered various questions including staffing, security/close protection and visa issues. IPU hosted a meeting on 5 August with TPUK, SSU, EG, ESU, PMU 2, RMU MENA, UKVisas and Consular Directorate to try to pull the various threads together and work through the implications of your staffing proposals. This raised a number of questions, on which we would welcome your comments. 2. I should say from the outset, that the availability of security assets is likely to be a major constraint on your expansion plans. Staffing two organograms, outlining your proposed Interim Establishment and your longer term Aspirational Assessment were useful documents. But they have raised a number of questions. You envisage the following: 6 MENA-funded UK based staff 1 x SMS HOM Christopher Segar at post Jon Wilks 1 x DHM D7 at post 1 x SMO CS late August/Sept 1 x 2 Sec Pol/PPA (tbc) December 1 x MO B3 at post September/October 1 x Chancery A2 TOTAL: 6 DECLAGSIFIED 255 TOTAL: 4 LE Staff 1 x LEIl Chancery Assistant (MENAD) 1 x LEIl Media Assistant (MENAD) 2 x LEIl Commercial Officers (TPUK) 1 x LEIl Accountant (MENAD) (5 LEIls) 2 x LEIII Consular/Visa Assistants (ConsD,UKVISAS) 1 x LEIII Maintenance Supervisor (MENAD) 1 x LEIII Management Assistant (MENAD) (4 LEIlls) 1 x LEI Purchasing Clerk (MENAD) 1 x LEIV Management/Gen Asst (MENAD) 1 x LEI Consular/Visa Reception/Filing (ConsD, UK Visas) 1 x LEIV Commercial Registry/Asst (TPUK) 1 x LEIV Pol/PPA (MENAD) (5 LEIVs) 1 x LEVa Mechanic/Handyman (MENAD) 4 x LEVa Domestic staff (MENAD) 4 x LEVc Labourers (MENAD) (9 LEVs) ) TOTAL: 23 LE STAFF This would imply desk space requirements for 24 staff, assuming the LEVs do not have offices, and accommodation for 10, plus Close Protection team currently requires 16 beds. 4. This plan is slightly different to our understanding. RMU have funding for: 8 x MENAD funded UK based staff : , B3 - eta - The six as outlined above, plus 1 x A2 PA/Head of Office ( mid/late October) and 1 x C4 Pol/PPA ( , currently with CPA). Your organogram does not refer to them. The original MENAD bid was for I x C4 Pol and 1 x C4 PPA. You appear to have 2 x C4 Pol/PPAs: I assume this is because will have to double hat until returns to you from CPA, at would become the PPA and which point the Pol Officer. Grateful if you DEOLA®S#FIED 5 x LEIII 8 x LEIV 10 x LEV From your organogram, only 17 of the 23 LEs are MENAD-funded, so we are short of our total of 27. Do you intend to fill these spare slots over time? You should note that it doesn't matter if you vary the numbers in each grade e.g. have 8 x LEIII and 5 x LEIV, rather than the other way around. It doesn't even matter if we have more than 27 in total. The salaries BOB are paying are lower than what we bid for so there is some flexibility, although you will be restricted by the amount of desk space available. 5. On top of this, your organogram also omits 1x TMO (to start in September) and 1xTWS (Technical Works Supervisor) slots. These are funded by MENAD. The slots/funding are available, as and when Post/Estate Group/Technical Group believe they are needed and can be accommodated. TWSs are not FCO staff - they are provided on contract by a private sector company, however their contractual arrangements are made by EG, who manage the TWS, but the full costs are met by MENAD 6. Finally, you do not mention LE cleaning staff (domestic assistants?), or drivers. At the moment CP are driving vehicles, but there is no requirement for them to do so (see also paras 11-15 on Security). We have another two protected vehicles on order for BOB. These look likely to be available post-October. 7. EG have the capacity to accommodate TPUK and most of the LE staff, although this differs from their original understanding of your plans. They will reconsider how best to use the limits. However, they do not believe they have the capacity to provide an increased Consular and Visa service without increasing the number of accommodation units. TPUK 8. TPUK are concerned that their original plan for a B3 Commercial Officer seems to have come undone. They would like this to be reinstated, as would we. TPUK have funding for 3 UK staff (C5/D6 Head of Section, C4 Commercial Officer & B3 Commercial Officer) and believe there will be sufficient demand for all of them. The DEOLASSIFIED private sector activity and following up specific commercial opportunities arising from reconstruction. They believe they need three staff to do all these jobs. In headline terms the job descriptions are: • 1" Sec Commercial - CPA liaison; IFI liaison (until the 2°d Sec is transferred to BOB); Representation; Sector lead on Oil & Gas and telecomms; Management and training/orientation of LE staff. • 2* Sec Commercial - initially seconded to the CPA to run the Business Facilitation and Information Centre. Responsibilities at BOB to be IFI liaison; UK and other international companies in Baghdad; sector lead on power and water; management and training/orientation of LE staff. • 3"d Sec Commercial - likely to be the most office bound of all. Responsibilities to focus on handling/managing commercial enquiries from the UK; provision of information to TPUK and others on doing business, setting up, etc; Setting up company databases; Commercial publicity; Projects list; Contracts awarded; sector lead on health and education & training; Management of LE staff. • LE Il - support to 1" Sec on CPA and Iraqi Government. Commercial publicity. Baghdad International Fair. Support to UK firms visiting Iraq. • LE II - support to 2^d Sec on IFIs; Major Iraqi business; Iraqi business intermediary organisations and SMEs; commercial publicity; trade missions/IWG visits; local Iraqi commercial enquiries. • LE IV - contacts database; support Cos; filing/registry; office management; purchasing office supplies Consular 10. Consular Directorate has noted your plans for a Consular Section. However, funding has not been formally requested and CD would need to allocate resources for both staff and other overheads including accommodation. (Consular Directorate have DECLAGGIFIED providing a full consular service until we have the appropriate facilities and the security environment is more benign. Visas ) 12. UKVisas are still considering the feasibility of offering a limited and unadvertised Visa service. Before making a decision on this, they require more details on the following: • How many applications do you expect to handle? What is their limit? Please specify which categories are you restricting applications to (e.g. diplomats, official visitors). What qualifying criteria you will be setting for the acceptance of applications? While the service will not be open to the public, there will undoubtedly be more demand than you will be able to handle and enquiries from applicants/sponsors whom you will not want to accept applications from. How will you justify your decisions and respond to applicants/UK sponsors whom you don't want to give a ) • Where are they going to operate the service from within the compound? How will you escort applicants? At the meeting there were serious security concerns regarding use of the old visa offices and visitors to BOB (who will need escorting). • Although the proposed service will not be public, word will inevitably get out that visas are being issued in BOB. Do you have a contingency plan to deal with the members of the public enquiries? They may themselves either pose a security risk or be subject to risk whilst around our building. • You propose to handle mainly official applications, if they issue mainly gratis visas UKVisas will look to command to cross subsidise. What are the likely numbers? The Directorate will have to fund these. • Hand-writing of vignettes can only be on a short-term emergency basis only. DECLAGSIFIED readout of any BC requirements for staff to be based within BOB you may have discussed with your visitors. 14. DFID have previously requested space for 3 x DFID officers plus 2 x support staff, although we have not yet received a formal request for this. EG/ESU believe there will be adequate space, so do not see this as a significant problem. Security 15. SSU will continue to provide the security advice, measures and assets to meet the FCO's duty of care and to enable you and your staff to work in safety. But resources have been stretched extremely thin. Indeed, depending on the outcome of the reserve claim, it is likely that we will not have enough to cover our existing commitments. This means that further increases in armed protection teams, armoured cars and other security equipment could only be funded through compensating savings elsewhere. 16. On close protection, MOD have made clear to SSU - most recently at Ministerial level - that the current level of CP cover for FCO posts is unsustainable and will have to be reduced. This is the backdrop against which your requirements needs to be considered. In short, there are not enough trained RMP to meet our world-wide needs. 17. On CP cover for BOB, the MoD are asking for a further reduction from 16 to 12 RMP personnel in Baghdad. This is their main reason for establishing 2 rather than 3 teams. SSU is discussing this proposal with MoD and RMP and making clear that it would have a severe impact on your operations. SSU will try to ensure that there are 16 CP operatives in Baghdad for the time being with sufficient flexibility to cover all the essential operational requirements, including the expansion of BOB to cover commercial work. But MoD/RMP could well insist on the reduction because they do not have the manpower. The alternative will be to look again at commercial security options but again resources will be a major constraint as neither SSU nor MENA Directorate have funds of this order. We will re-examine this option once we know the result of our reserve claim. A further idea is for you to recruit onto the ADEST local drivers for your armoured vehicles and get CP members to train them. This will release members of the team for other duties. DECLA&S/FIED BOB Guardforce 19. On BOB guarding, we have now concluded the tendering process and identified a winning company, ArmorGroup. William Ehrman will shortly write to MOD on our decision, but for the foreseeable future we see the need to keep UK military in place at BOB. Recent Security Threats & Evacuation 20. With reference to your Tel No 109 of 7 August, we agree that implementing OSA's security recommendations should take priority and that you need to revise should have a your evacuation procedures and to regularly revisit them. copy of COMPLAN Medusa which provides a useful reference on procedures. Bilateral Work in Basrah 21. You will have seen Sir Hilary Synnott's Tel of 4 August (no tel ref number) on establishing a bilateral cell in Basrah to co-ordinate arrangements for establishing the British Office there and supporting visits to the South, ahead of our plans to open an office in Basrah, which we have postponed until December. This seems sensible to us and we are keen to move forward. 22. Our initial thinking is to appoint a temporary officer to oversee the project. We wondered whether would be interested in taking this on from mid- September. Initially, he would probably be located in CPA South, who now look likely to collocate with 19 Brigade HQ in the old Presidential Palace in Basrah. TPUK are also keen to get going and plan to base their new C4 Commercial Officer in Kuwait; he/she would visit Basrah regularly. DFID are also interested. We will need to provide transport for the office and will discuss this with DFID. Chancery staff will migrate across We are also considering IT implications. DECLASSIFIED [Signed: Neil Crompton) Neil Crompton Edward Chaplin o/r cc: IPU IPU Peter Millett, SSU (O/R) SSU RMU MENA PMU PMU EG UK Visas Cons Dir Cons Dir David Richmond, UKRep Iraq Bridget Brind, CLO 3 Div Henry Hogger, HMA, Damascus TPUK DECLAgSIFIED