Simon Fraser
Permanent Secretary of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office
What were your biggest policy and delivery challenges in 2013, and how did you handle them?
As always, our biggest challenges were unexpected. Our consular and political teams handled crises in Algeria, the Westgate attack in Nairobi and the hurricane in the Philippines. We have improved our crisis management a lot over recent years, enabling us to provide high-quality consular support to British people.
The big strategic challenges are in the Middle East and European policy. I hardly dared hope that we would deliver an agreement with Iran on the nuclear programme. We’ve improved our relationship with China, and made maximum use of the UK’s G8 presidency. We have done our best to up our game in supporting trade and investment, and promoting the ‘GREAT’ campaign.
The adoption of the Arms Trade Treaty was the product of years of FCO campaigning, and was recognised in the Civil Service Awards. And we’ve led a global campaign against sexual violence in conflict, building towards an international summit in London next year.
Where have you made the most progress in implementing the Civil Service Reform Plan, and what are your reform priorities for 2014?
Diplomatic Excellence is our reform agenda and is about continually improving our policy, people and network. We have made a big push on diversity, and talent and programme management. Our 2013 Staff Survey shows strong engagement with Diplomatic Excellence, and our overall staff engagement levels have increased.
We are proud of our new Language Centre, and the work we have done to build a stronger ‘one team’ approach for our UK-based and locally-engaged staff. We’re now proposing to open a Diplomatic Academy to strengthen learning and development, and the professional skills of diplomacy.
Overseas, we are working better with other Whitehall Departments. We have opened new missions in Juba, Bishkek, San Salvador, Seattle, Vientiane, Mogadishu, Port au Prince and Asuncion. We continue to put more diplomats into the emerging powers.
What are your key challenges in the last full year of the Parliament, and how will you tackle them?
On the consular side, we will have a busy 2014, including the World Cup in Brazil and the Sochi Winter Olympics. We will also help to organise the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the NATO Summit.
The Middle East will continue to dominate much of the agenda. Military drawdown in Afghanistan will mark a new chapter for our work there. Europe will remain a big issue. The top overall challenge is still supporting growth in the economy. We will work for an EU-US free trade agreement, and a global climate change agreement in 2015.
What would you most like Santa to bring you this year? And what would you like him to take away?
Bring Ipswich Town back into the Premiership, and take away my weekend box.