MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Sir Simon steps down after five years as FCO Permanent Under-Secretary

Sir Simon, 56, joined the FCO in 1979 and specialized in Europe, international economic policy and Middle East. He served in Baghdad, Damascus, Paris and Brussels.

The Permanent Under-Secretary (PUS) at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Sir Simon Fraser, will step down after five years in the role and leave HM Diplomatic Service at the end of July 2015. He was appointed PUS, taking over from Sir Peter Ricketts, in August 2010.

 Sir Simon, 56, who joined the FCO in 1979, is also a former Permanent Secretary in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. He has specialized in Europe, international economic policy and the Middle East. He served in Baghdad, Damascus, Paris and Brussels.

“It has been a tremendous honor to lead the Foreign and Commonwealth Office over five exciting and demanding years. I feel that this is the right time to stand down and to allow someone else to guide the organization through the coming phase under the next Government. I pay tribute to the dedicated and skilled staff of the FCO who gives such outstanding service to our country every day in all corners of the world. I am also pleased to have been able to contribute to the wider leadership of the Civil Service in my time at BIS and the FCO”, said Sir Simon.

Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood said: “Simon has been a great, reforming Civil Service leader, first at the Department for Business Innovation and Skills and then for five years at the Foreign Office. He has taken the FCO to new levels of efficiency, effectiveness and openness and will leave a lasting legacy of diplomatic excellence and a much stronger commercial orientation. I would like to thank him for his outstanding contribution”.

And Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said he thanked Simon for taking the helm at a challenging time, playing a particularly important role in reinvigorating the Foreign Office with a strong focus on diplomatic excellence.

“Thanks to his strong personal leadership, he leaves the organization in good shape for his successor, ready to face the future with confidence”.

A successor will be selected after the May election.