FCDO 2030 - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q: Has the FCDO provided clarity on its approach to reducing the workforce? Is it headcount or budget? There are lots of contradictory lines/comms from seniors.

A: No, and without overall Workforce Planning information we cannot be sure. We keep on pushing the FCDO to get answers to this question and to be provided with a workforce plan. The failure to provide us with this, and other basic information, is one of the main reasons why PCS is in dispute.

Q: How many people could the new Voluntary Exit Scheme (VES) accommodate?

A: We do not have an answer, as we have not seen Workforce Planning despite repeated requests.

Q: FCDO has not acknowledged that PCS is in dispute with the organisation. Is there nothing we can do about this?

A: Your PCS representatives have written directly to Olly Robbins to clarify that the union has entered into formal dispute. The position of senior management is that FCDO is not in a restructure ‘currently’. We are about to send them our Stage 3 dispute letter. Other measures are being considered, including industrial action. 

Q: If we continue to get stonewalled, what tools does PCS have to get the FCDO to engage with us?

A: The Employee Relations Framework sets out the relationship between the FCDO and the unions. We will continue to operate under this framework and required that the FCDO does the same. Where this is not the case, your PCS representatives will use every leverage that is available to us, including legal action. We are also campaigning in parliament, and regularly meeting with MPs to brief them.

As employees and trade union members, our biggest power lies in our collective strength. This may include taking Industrial Action. 

Q: What action can I take as a member to support our campaign/dispute?

Ahead of balloting you and your colleagues for industrial action, we are asking all members to take two actions:

1. Vote in our indicative Ballot. Not yet voted? Vote now. The ballot asks you to support your branch's five proposed bargaining demands, and to tell us if you are prepared to take industrial action to achieve those demands. Deadline for responses is 2pm on Friday, 26 January.
2. Recruit a colleague to join PCS. We need everyone to join PCS if they are not already in one of the other two unions recognised by the FCDO. It is very easy to join PCS online.  

Q: Can we interpret the lack of communication from FCDO as intentional deceit due to union consultation claims?

A: Your union representatives are opposed to the restructure and also have concerns about how it is being handled. This is why we continue to push the Administration and fight to defend the interest of our members. That said, we cannot tell others how to interpret things.

Q: Is this a voluntary exit scheme (VES)? How will the scheme be calculated? How many voluntary redundancies will the scheme cover?

The unions have consistently asked for clarity on the terms as soon as they are known. Along with our other concerns about how the process is being handled, it is troubling that the organisation seems determined to move at pace when we know so many issues and problems remain from their very recent efforts to exit people.

Voluntary departure is deliberately vague, since the administration are merely seeking to gauge how many staff might potentially be interested in moving on, in the right circumstances. Because it is, at this stage, only about expressions of interest (EOIs) the exact approach to any potential departures has not been finalised.

We have made it clear that lessons must be learned from the most recent VES, and HR accept that it was not managed as well as it could have been.

Q: Do the Civil Service Compensation Scheme (CSCS) 2010 rules still apply?

A: Yes. The 2010 CSCS rules outline the differences between voluntary exit (VES), voluntary redundancy (VR) and compulsory redundancy (CR), and clarify when each type of scheme should be offered, what the caps are, and what clearance an employer is required to obtain from the Cabinet Office.

Q: Is there any point in those who were refused VES last round applying on this round?

A: We have discussed the failures of the previous round of VES with HR. We have no information to suggest expressions of interest from previous VES applicants would be discouraged.

Q: Does the expression of interest (EOI) process mean the organisation has fulfilled its requirement to offer voluntary redundancy (VR) to all employees? So if you don’t express interest, then you can be selected for compulsory redundancy (CR) at a later date?

A: PCS is opposed to all compulsory redundancies, and will fight to defend all jobs. 

Senior management has told the unions that the new EOI is non-binding, suggesting that members could complete the EOI and still face compulsory redundancy at some point. If the FCDO offers a voluntary exit scheme (VES) it will still have to offer a VR scheme later in the process before it can move to compulsory redundancy (CR). The organisation will also need Cabinet Office approval to issue CR notices - and this could only happen after a period of redundancy mitigation review (RMR), involving PCS and the other unions, with the Cabinet Office.

Q: What guidance is available for filling out the EOI for any kind of exit scheme?

A: There is guidance on SharePoint.

Q: At the all staff meeting we heard that the new Overseas Employment Framework (OEF) would be announced 'soon'. Do we have any idea what this will look like? For those overseas, do your entitlements change while posted or is it for 'future' postings?

A: We are about to be consulted on changes to the OEF. PCS is clear that the OEF is contractual so cannot legally be changed without agreement from the trade unions. In fact, PCS took legal action in 2010 when the then-FCO attempted to unilaterally change the OEF. At a preliminary legal hearing the judge agreed with us that the OEF was contractual. As a result, FCO did not attempt to go ahead with its changes and the case did not go to a full hearing.

Your branch reps are collecting information on this case, and extremely interested to hear from any ex-FCO members who remember anything about it. 

A: I heard a DG say that the next voluntary exit scheme (VES)/voluntary redundancy (VR) will be open to staff overseas, even if it involves leaving before the end of your tour. Is that correct?

A: We are not sure but will ask the question. We know staff overseas can submit an EOI.

Q: Can we make union meetings more accessible for overseas members in different time zones?

A: We are working with our overseas reps to see if this is possible. We want to make sure everyone who is a member has access to the same information. We will also look at if we can alternative start times.

Q: What is happening to those directors whose applications to keep their jobs were unsuccessful?

A: We are seeking clarity on how the organisation intends to support unsuccessful applicants – we currently have concerns about how this process has been managed. We are concerned that adequate redeployment support has not been given and that director roles have been left vacant while SCS’2s are at risk of redundancy. This is one of the reasons why we are in dispute.

Q: I was quite taken aback to receive the email asking me to confirm how long I had been in the civil service. In all my 25 years I have never been asked that. Is this for cutting jobs?

A: We think this question was asked because it helps to determine redundancy costs - payments are worked out based on length of service and a request has to be made to the Cabinet Office for caps to redundancy payments to be lifted. Union reps were not informed by HR that this email would go out to staff.

Q: Wouldn't a starting point for HR be to look at those who applied for Voluntary Exit Scheme (VES) last time around, but were turned down?

A: This should be treated as a new exercise. People’s circumstances change over time.

Q: Is the organisation pausing any new recruitment of fast streamers?

A: We have asked that all external recruitment is paused. We are concerned that there are inductions for new staff taking place this January. We have raised this concern with the FCDO, and will continue to do so.

Q: Going forward the next few months we will see FCDO try to divide us between different 'groups' and pit us against each other. How do we remain united?

A: We have to stand together – as union members and as civil servants. The decision to undergo redundancy measures comes from senior management. They are the ones who have decided that cutting FCDO staff is in the organisation’s best interest. Your union, led by members in the FCDO, is fighting for the rights of all FCDO staff. Please encourage your colleagues, who are not already members, to join PCS.

Q: There are hundreds of staff on inward loan from Other Government Departments (OGDs). What did the FCDO do post-merger regarding colleagues on loan from OGDs?

A: PCS's proposed bargaining demands - which we're asking all members to vote on in the current indicative ballot - include a demand that there should be no early ending of fixed term appointments (FTAs) and inward loans.

We will look into what happened after the merger to see if this can be used as leverage to protect members.

Q: How much of the weekly PCS member meetings can we communicate to our colleagues?

A:  Everything said at union meetings can be relayed to staff because we are being careful NOT to share embargoed information. That being said, colleagues should join PCS if they want first hand updates and support through this process. They can join PCS online.

Q: Are there continuing problems with the administration of our pensions since Capita replaced MyCSP?

A: Things have got worse since Capita took over and, despite the best efforts of the PCS staff who work there, a larger backlog now exists. In early January, PCS wrote to the Cabinet Office to demand urgent and effective action to restore acceptable levels of service. It is a real mess, demonstrating once again that privatisation doesn't work.

This all means that we don’t know how long it will take to complete quotes for those FCDO staff facing redundancy. Yet another reason why the FCDO's aim to restructure the organisation by 1 April 2026 is unrealistic.