15.1 | Civilian
personnel
318.
Participants
at the Inquiry’s civilian outreach event commented that,
although
it was
difficult to arrange travel to meetings outside the Green Zone in
Baghdad
from
mid‑2004, it was equally difficult for Iraqis to attend meetings
inside the Green
Zone.
Iraqis did so at significant personal risk and did not understand
why their UK
interlocutors
appeared to be so risk averse. The participants reported that
similar
conditions
prevailed in Basra from mid‑2006.
319.
In March 2004,
Mr Jack completed a review of the FCO’s worldwide
security
strategy,
commissioned in response to the attack on the UK Consulate General
in
Istanbul in
November 2003.217
The terms
of reference were: “To review the basis for the
FCO
Security Strategy. In particular to re‑examine the balance between
security and
operational
effectiveness.” Mr Jack’s review identified risk management as
the most
important
tool available to identify the measures needed to meet the FCO’s
duty of care
to
staff.
320.
The FCO Board
endorsed the main conclusions of the review on 26
March.218
321.
In late June
2004, the FCO advised staff of the review’s conclusions,
including
that,
although total risk avoidance was unrealistic, risk management was
fundamental
to striking
a balance between security and operational effectiveness, and to
the
prioritisation
of security resources.219
The FCO’s
Security Strategy Unit was reported
to be
developing a risk matrix to help inform decisions in
posts.
322.
On 23 June,
DFID officials sought advice from Treasury Solicitors on
draft
guidance on
DFID’s duty of care responsibilities in Iraq.220
Treasury
Solicitors
confirmed
that:
“… DFID, in
common with all other employers, owes its employees a duty
to
take
reasonable care for their physical and mental health and safety in
all the
circumstances
of the case so as not to expose them to unnecessary,
reasonably
foreseeable
risk of personal injury or death …
…
“What DFID
must do in order to comply with the duty of care depends on what
is
reasonable
in all the circumstances, which include not only its own knowledge
of the
risks but
also the degree of control it has over its employees given where
they are,
their
experience and the nature of their work.
…
217
Report
Jack, March 2004, ‘Security Review: Final Report’.
218
Letter
Millett to FCO Heads of Mission, 29 April 2004, ‘FCO Security:
Stuart Jack’s Report’.
219
Telegram
224 FCO London to Abidjan, 29 June 2004, ‘Review of FCO Security
Overseas’.
220
Letter
Treasury Solicitors [junior official] to Department for
International Development [junior official],
25 June
2004, ‘Duty of care to staff in Iraq’.
299