Full Breakdown
UK Cuts Hardship Payments for Diplomats in Six Cities
8/15/2026, 2:21:44 AM
Change to Hardship Payment List
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has removed six postings from the list of locations that qualify for hardship allowances. The cities taken off the list are Santiago (Chile), Panama City (Panama), Pyongyang (North Korea), Bamako (Mali), Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and the previously mentioned Buenos Aires (Argentina). The decision follows a review published last week and reduces the number of qualifying sites to 144, which still includes high-risk locations such as Beirut, Pretoria, New Delhi and Beijing, as well as popular tourist destinations like Bali and Rio de Janeiro.
Background and Purpose of the Scheme
Hardship payments have been part of British diplomatic compensation for roughly three decades. They are intended to offset extra costs and quality-of-life challenges faced by staff and their families in postings with security threats, extreme climate, natural-disaster risk, isolation or high pollution. The allowances are reviewed regularly; the most recent public breakdown from 2009 showed the highest individual payments were £26,647 for Karachi (Pakistan) and £14,804 for Abuja (Nigeria). In the same year, a couple posted to Buenos Aires received £1,517, while Santiago carried a payment of £777.
Official Statements & Responses
Answering a parliamentary question from Lord Moylan, Foreign Office minister Lord Wood of Anfield explained that hardship assessments consider factors that may require additional breaks for physical or mental health, and emphasized that the arrangements “are not new” and have been applied consistently under successive governments. A Foreign Office spokesperson later defended the programme, stating that British diplomats serve in some of the toughest physical and political environments and that the government has a duty of care to ensure staff are properly supported, with compensation reflecting posting conditions as in any private-sector role.
Conservative Criticism
Conservative chairman Kevin Hollinrake argued that paying civil servants extra for postings in places such as Bali, Cape Town and the Maldives is unfair to taxpayers. He framed the scheme as “taxpayer-funded jollies” and suggested that cutting the size of the civil service would be a remedy if the Conservatives return to power.
Data on Payments and Remaining Cities
The revised list retains hardship eligibility for cities including Bangkok, Cape Town, Kuala Lumpur, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Muscat. While exact current payment levels are not routinely published, the 2009 figures illustrate the range of allowances that have historically been granted, from modest sums for South-American capitals to six-figure payments for postings in high-risk regions.