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Despite the impressive performance of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in representing the UK's interests across the globe with what is, in Governmental terms, a particularly small budget, the Foreign Affairs Committee believes that the FCO is under-funded. This situation has been exacerbated by the Spending Review 2010 and the lack of detail provided by the FCO and the BBC World Service as to exactly how the spending reductions target will be met is disappointing. There are concerns about the steps taken by the FCO to adjust to its reduced budget: reductions in the deployment of UK-based staff overseas and the optimistic planned programme of property sales will have a detrimental impact on the ability of the UK to protect its interests overseas. The establishment of the European External Action Service (EEAS) will place a further strain on the FCO's resources. The Committee welcomes the appointment of Lord Williams of Baglan to the post of "International Trustee" with responsibility for the BBC World Service, but reiterates its belief that a formal concordat governing the World Service's budget and output should be drawn up setting out the World Service's independence from budgetary pressures elsewhere in the BBC. The budget cuts faced by the British Council will lead to the Council becoming a substantially different organisation by the end of the Spending Review period. The greater emphasis that the British Council will place on commercial activity risks a diminution of the UK's influence and soft power.
The Space Studies Board (SSB) was established in 1958 to serve as the focus of the interests and responsibilities in space research for the National Academies. The SSB provides an independent, authoritative forum for information and advice on all aspects of space science and applications, and it serves as the focal point within the National Academies for activities on space research. It oversees advisory studies and program assessments, facilitates international research coordination, and promotes communications on space science and science policy between the research community, the federal government, and the interested public. The SSB also serves as the U.S. National Committee for the International Council for Science Committee on Space Research (COSPAR). This volume reviews the organization, activities, and reports of the SSB for the year 2010.
The Treasury's Asset Protection Scheme to protect over £280 billion of Royal Bank of Scotland's financial assets against losses has, so far, only been partially successful in encouraging lending to creditworthy borrowers on the scale originally envisaged. The Scheme, launched in early 2009, initially involved two banks. RBS eventually put £282 billion of assets into the Scheme, while Lloyds Banking Group paid £2.5 billion to exit the Scheme in November 2009 and instead raised additional capital from shareholders. The principal elements of the Scheme, particularly the first loss, were based on a robust assessment of incentives and on as complete information on the underlying assets as were available at the time. As part of the Scheme, Lloyds and RBS agreed lending targets. While both banks met targets for mortgage lending, there was a shortfall of £30 billion against targets for lending to business. Value for money in the longer term will depend heavily on incentives built into the Scheme to encourage good management of assets. Establishing a requirement for RBS to bear the first £60 billion of losses (a 'first loss') was crucial in providing the right incentive for the bank to manage its assets effectively. However, if the first loss is exceeded, RBS will have less financial incentive to avoid further losses although the bank considers it will still have a legal and moral obligation to manage the assets as best it can. The position of taxpayers would be particularly vulnerable if losses were to exceed about £73 billion