15.1 | Civilian
personnel
continuity
difficult at the best of times. Gaps between postings, as have
happened
up to now,
can and do seriously undermine progress in specific areas and
across
the board.
Personnel management structures are needed for the replacement
of
all UK
personnel in CPA(S) well in advance of their departure for
mission.
“Some other
factors are relevant. 18 UK military personnel currently seconded
to
CPA(S) will
be drawn down to zero between now and 28 December. They will
need
civilian
replacements …”
209.
On 14
November, Mr Desmond Bowen, Deputy Head of OD Sec, reported
to
departments
that 104 staff from eight countries were working in
CPA(South).145
The
largest
contributors after the UK were Italy and Denmark. Of the 48 UK
secondees,
30 were
civilians and 18 military, half of them from the TA. Seven TA
personnel were
in the
process of being re‑engaged on civilian contracts.
210.
Mr Bowen
explained that DFID had contracted the Crown Agents in October
to
recruit 37
staff: seven to replace Reservists and 30 for new posts.
Recruitment had not
been easy,
despite financial inducements:
“Successful
candidates need to have the right technical skills, aptitude for
building
Iraqi
capacity and willingness to work in a difficult environment. When
recruited,
candidates
also need to undergo security training. The Crown Agents
should
fill
15 of the 37 posts this month, including seven TA personnel
who are being
re‑engaged
on civilian contracts. These seven TA posts will be vacant for two
to
three weeks
while the TA officers are demobilised and contracted by Crown
Agents
… Up to
five lesser priority posts are likely to remain more difficult to
fill, but Crown
Agents are
being pressed to locate suitable candidates as soon as possible
…
“… Hilary
Synnott subsequently asked FCO to fill a further 29 posts. These
are in
the areas
of interior and justice, liaison with the southern governorates,
and in the
political
development directorates. Job descriptions for these posts have
now
arrived
from Basra … It should be possible to fill many of the jobs from
Whitehall
(eg Home
Office), although outside specialists may be necessary for some.
There
is already
a database of volunteers. But the security situation will be a
deterrent.
Extracting
people from current jobs, security training and the logistics of
deployment
often take
longer than we would want. But FCO aim to fill the posts during
December
and
January.
“CPA(South)
has now grown substantially, and UK civilian staffing in Iraq as
a
whole is
moving towards the 200 mark. The number of civilians in
CPA(South)
is larger
than in other regions. But account must be taken of the fact that
the large
numbers of
US Army Civil Affairs officers who are available elsewhere are
not
available
in the South.”
145
Letter
Bowen to Owen, 14 November 2003, ‘Iraq: CPA (South)
Staff’.
279