Recommendation 6

FCDO’s ability to manage its estate is hampered by a lack of staff with the necessary skills and experience. Larger FCDO posts can have dedicated estate managers and teams, but smaller posts do not always have estate specialists on site. The NAO’s survey of posts found that 65% of respondents reported a lack of staff and other resources for estate management and 44% a lack of relevant training, skills and experience. FCDO’s central estate function provides posts with detailed guidance and deploys around 75 technical experts, based regionally, that also provide guidance and services to posts. It also commissions a specialist service to carry out annual inspections of high-risk systems including gas and electrics. However, FCDO acknowledges it does not have all the staff and capabilities needed at posts. FCDO does not have a workforce strategy that identifies the resources and skills it needs to manage its estate and set out how it will address any gaps. FCDO is developing an estate workforce strategy to set out what resources and skills are necessary at individual posts (including the appropriate mix of internal training and external recruitment), what expertise can be deployed at a regional level and what is required centrally to provide support and advice. 5 recommendation FCDO should complete its estate workforce strategy, which should set out: • the staff and skills it needs and where they should be best located; • the staff and skills it currently has; and • a delivery plan explaining how it will close any gaps found by for example, training existing staff, moving staff or external recruitment. FCDO should update the Committee on this alongside its Treasury Minute response. 6 1 FCDO’s estate strategy Introduction