Foreign and Commonwealth Office
From SR
Roles
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is the British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.
Policy Goals:
- Counter-terrorism, weapons proliferation and their causes
- Preventing and resolving conflict
- Promoting a low carbon, high growth, global economy
- Developing effective international institutions, above all the UN and EU
Essential services:
- Supporting the British economy abroad
- Supporting British nationals abroad
- Supporting managed migration for the UK
Embassies
The role of Embassies-
- Practical advice, assistance and support to the ever-increasing number of British nationals who travel or live overseas
- Dealing with requests for visas
- Dealing with requests for passports
- Using our local knowledge to assess the risks to British nationals, which range from terrorism to natural disasters
- Looking after the UK's commercial interests
- Supporting UK firms who want to trade and export in overseas markets
- Encouraging non-UK companies to invest in the UK
- Being the eyes and ears of the UK Government abroad. Embassies are linked directly into UK government departments providing vital information on developments abroad, and on the effects in the UK of decisions made abroad, and vice-versa.
- Talking regularly to decision-makers and promoting the UK's strengths of integrity, creativity, and openness which helps to boost trade, inward investment, tourism and the influence of UK foreign policy.
Reporting Hierarchy
David Miliband is the Secretary of State for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs. The FCO Board provides the FCO’s corporate leadership, in delivering the policies and services that are set by Ministers.
