15.1 | Civilian
personnel
89.
In the absence
of contingency preparations for the deployment of more than
a
handful of
UK civilians to Iraq, officials urgently sought:
•
cross‑Whitehall
agreement on the detailed arrangements for recruitment
and
deployment
of individuals from a range of different
organisations;
•
agreement
with ORHA on the level of support it would provide UK
secondees;
and
•
detailed
information on secondees’ roles in Iraq.
90.
Sir Michael
Jay launched the recruitment process on 22 April, sending a request
for
volunteers
to Sir Andrew Turnbull and all Whitehall Permanent
Secretaries.60
91.
Sir Michael
included a list of priority positions for UK secondees based
on
recommendations
from Maj Gen Cross (see Section 10.1). Sir Michael
described
in broad
terms the personal qualities and skills volunteers should
possess:
“The key to
a successful secondment will be enthusiasm, personal
impact,
resilience,
flexibility and the ability to take a wide top‑down view of policy
and
priorities.
The ability to deploy quickly is also essential: ideally we want
the first
volunteers
to reach Baghdad by around 5 May to allow them to help
shape
ORHA’s work
and approach from the start. We expect secondments to
last
between
three and six months, depending on the requirements of ORHA and
the
Iraqi
ministry concerned.
“I hope you
will take a broad view in looking for volunteers … you might
consider
suggesting
secondment of officials on your books but not currently employed
…
I hope
you will also consider drawing people from your wider pool of
stakeholders
–
I would, for example, welcome volunteers from eg police
authorities, quangos or
NHS
trusts.
“In all
cases, enthusiasm and personal qualities are likely to be just as
important
as specific
expertise …”
92.
Sir Michael
explained that salaries would be paid by employing
departments.
Discussions
were continuing on how other costs should be met. ORHA was
expected
to provide
accommodation. Staff would not be deployed until ORHA and
Maj Gen Cross
were
confident it was safe to do so. The “austere” living and working
conditions would
be compensated
by an allowance package being finalised by the FCO.
93.
On 25 April,
FCO, DFID, MOD and Cabinet Office officials agreed a number of
steps
to
co‑ordinate departments’ responses:
•
Mr Dominick
Chilcott, Head of the IPU, would lead a scoping visit to
identify
posts of
greatest value to the UK (see Section 10.1).
60
Letter Jay
to Turnbull, 22 April 2003, ‘Iraq: UK Support for the Office for
Reconstruction and
Humanitarian
Assistance (ORHA)’.
259