FCO needs improvements in facilities management

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Facilities management improvements needed for FCO, report suggests.

By Ashley Brunskill

The Foreign Office (FCO) is wasting money and office space on its £1.6 billion overseas estate, it has been suggested.

A National Audit Office (NAO) report has suggested that more than half of the FCO's properties abroad have unused office space and "no clear strategy" for how to handle the properties that it owns.

The reports found that six in ten of the offices around the world had unused space, suggesting that improvements in facilities management could be necessary.

Amyas Morse, head of the NAO, said: "While there are examples of good practice at individual posts, the department needs to spread this across the whole estate if it is to make real efficiencies"

He added that it needs to work out its priorities for the overseas property and decide how to get more robust information.

The FCO is the government department responsible for promoting British interests overseas and supporting citizens and businesses around the world.

Source: ask-re The Property People LLP