British diplomats have had their allowances for working in Buenos Aires canceled
The British government has removed Buenos Aires from the list of foreign cities where British diplomats are eligible to receive allowances for difficult conditions of service. Such allowances and additional time off are granted to staff posted to locations with heightened security or health risks, according to BBC News.
Santiago, Chile; Panama City, Panama; Pyongyang, North Korea; Bamako, Mali; and Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, have also been removed from the updated list. Meanwhile, 144 locations remain on the list, including Bangkok, Cape Town, Kuala Lumpur, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Muscat.
The British Foreign Office has been paying allowances to employees working in areas with high levels of danger or health risks for nearly 30 years. The payments are intended to compensate employees and their families for the additional costs and hardships of living abroad. The assessment takes into account security measures, climate, natural disaster risks, isolation, and other factors affecting quality of life.
Read more breaking news on the UA.News Telegram channel.
In response to a parliamentary question from Conservative Lord Moylan, Lord Wood of Anfield, a minister at the British Foreign Office, stated that the assessment of the difficulty of a posting also takes into account employees’ need for additional rest to maintain their physical or mental health. According to him, these rules have been in place under various governments for several decades.
Conservative Party leader Kevin Hollinrake criticized the additional allowances paid to civil servants working in popular tourist destinations, including Bali, Cape Town, and the Maldives. He also promised to reduce the size of the civil service if the Conservatives return to power. The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office stated that diplomats work under challenging physical and political conditions, and the government must provide them with adequate support.
The amounts of such allowances are not usually made public. According to the 2009 diplomatic allowance schedule, the allowance for a couple posted to Buenos Aires was 1,517 pounds sterling, and to Santiago—777 pounds.
