The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has closed nine embassies and high commissions over the last three years. Fifteen consulates have been closed over the same period of time. These missions are listed in the following table. In addition, six commercial and information offices, staffed by locally engaged staff were also closed.
The FCO continuously reviews the deployment of its resources and aligns them flexibly in line with UK interests to the benefit of the British taxpayer.
Year: 1 April to 31 March Embassies/High Commissions Consulates 2004-05 — Douala1, Tarawa1 and Oporto 2005-06 Nassau, Abidjan2, Maseru, Antananarivo, Asuncion, Mbabane, Nuku' alofa and Port Vila Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Fukuoka1, Dallas, San Juan1 and Aden1 2006-07 Dili Adelaide1, Hamburg, Nagoya, Kingstown1, Gothenburg and Seattle1 1 Consulates staffed by locally engaged staff only. 2 Operations at this embassy have been suspended due to the uncertain security situation in the Ivory Coast.