Britain is currently going through financial crisis, so the government there is considering selling its expensive buildings and embassies abroad. Britain's Foreign Ministry has about 6,500 properties around the world. Their total value is approximately £2.5 billion (Rs 29,500 crore). The government is now examining this entire property to decide which buildings are superfluous and which can be sold to raise money.
Britain's Foreign Ministry is called Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCOD). The UK budget document released this week said that FCDO will reduce its assets. This also includes selling those buildings which are no longer considered essential. Many embassies and government residences are in bad condition. About 933 buildings, i.e. about 15% of the property, have been found to be unsafe. Approximately £450 million (Rs 5,315 crore) will be required to repair them.
The government has said that it wants to reduce expenditure in expensive cities like New York. This could also include a £12 million luxury apartment that Britain bought for its diplomats in 2019, so that trade deals with the US could be easily done after Brexit. This apartment is on the 38th floor of 50 United Nations Plaza. It has seven bedrooms, six bathrooms, a powder room and a library.
Britain's National Audit Office (NAO) and Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) had already warned that many of Britain's buildings abroad were in very poor condition. PAC also said that FCDO has already sold its large embassy complexes in Bangkok and Tokyo and no longer has large property assets that can be easily sold.
FCDO is also cutting its staff. Employees working in the UK are being given voluntary retirement, which may lead to job cuts of up to 30%. The ministry is also reviewing more than 250 embassies and offices in 150 countries around the world.
This step also appears to weaken Britain's soft power abroad. The government has already reduced the foreign aid budget, which has affected programs like BBC World Service.
