Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to Cabinet Office statistics on Permanent and temporary civil servants by sex, age band and department: 2023, published on 31 October 2023, how many permanent civil servants excluding agencies worked for his Department on 31 March (a) 2011, (b) 2016 and (c) 2020.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The requested data is published in the public domain.
Permanent DFID/FCO Employees:
| DFID | FCO | |
| March 2011 | 1610 | 5790 |
| March 2016 | 1960 | 5490 |
| March 2020 | 2610 | 6420 |
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to his Department's publication of ministerial travel data for April to June 2023, how much of the published £12,852.44 cost of his trip to New Delhi from 28 February to 3 March was made up of his (a) share of the £157,888.17 cost of the flights for that trip, (b) accommodation and (c) meals and other expenses.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Overall figures of government spend are regularly published as part of transparency releases. These figures could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.
Foreign travel is a vital part of diplomacy. It is in the national interest that the Foreign Secretary and other Ministers travel abroad to pursue UK interests. Value for money is taken into account in all travel decisions.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to his Department's publication of ministerial travel data for April to June 2023, how much of the published £38,555.99 cost of his trip to Japan, the Pacific Islands, New Zealand and Indonesia from 15 to 22 April was made up of his (a) share of the £561,531.04 cost of the flights for that trip, (b) accommodation and (c) meals and other expenses.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Overall figures of government spend are regularly published as part of transparency releases. These figures could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.
Foreign travel is a vital part of diplomacy. It is in the national interest that the Foreign Secretary and other Ministers travel abroad to pursue UK interests. Value for money is taken into account in all travel decisions.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to his Department's publication of ministerial travel data for April to June 2023, how much of the published £22,860.38 cost of his trip to the Caribbean and Latin America from 17 to 25 May was made up of his (a) share of the £422,747.50 cost of the flights for that trip, (b) accommodation and (c) meals and other expenses.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Overall figures of government spend are regularly published as part of transparency releases. These figures could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.
Foreign travel is a vital part of diplomacy. It is in the national interest that the Foreign Secretary and other Ministers travel abroad to pursue UK interests. Value for money is taken into account in all travel decisions.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to his Department's publication of ministerial travel data for April to June 2023, how much of the published £12,149.46 cost of his trip to Washington DC from 17 to 19 January was made up of his (a) share of the £178,761.86 cost of the flights for that trip, (b) accommodation and (c) meals and other expenses.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Overall figures of government spend are regularly published as part of transparency releases. These figures could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.
Foreign travel is a vital part of diplomacy. It is in the national interest that the Foreign Secretary and other Ministers travel abroad to pursue UK interests. Value for money is taken into account in all travel decisions.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether (a) he and (b) the Secretary of State for Defence visited the Commonwealth War Cemetery at Yokahama during their visit to Japan from 7 to 8 November 2023.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
My Rt Hon Friends the Foreign Secretary and Defence Secretary did not visit the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in Yokohama during their visit to Japan from 7-8 November 2023.
As in previous years, British Embassy Tokyo will hold a Remembrance Day ceremony at the Cemetery on 12 November. We continue to pay our respects to all the fallen and wounded in all conflicts, including from the Commonwealth. This weekend, we will remember and honour the service and sacrifice made by our veterans and service personnel. We will never forget those who gave their lives defending our values and great nation.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 6 December 2022 to Question 97500 on Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Incentives, what the value was of non-cash vouchers awarded to staff working for his core Department as performance-related bonuses in 2022-23.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Performance related bonuses paid out as non-cash vouchers is a common practice across Government. The total bonus spend for 2022-23 is £11.131 million. We do not capture data for non-cash vouchers only, therefore this figure includes both cash and non-cash awards. This figure includes payments and award to both UK based and Country based staff.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Written Statement of 14 September 2023 on Debts owed by Diplomatic Missions and International Organisations in the UK: 2022, for what reason he is unable to provide the amount of debt owed for (a) national non-domestic rates and (b) parking fines as of 31 December 2022, and on what date his Department plans to release those figures.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Details of outstanding debts and fines owed by Diplomatic Missions and International Organisations in the UK for National Non-Domestic Rates and parking fines has been delayed owing to the impact of Coronavirus restrictions on the work of the Valuation Office Agency and Local Authorities in gathering accurate and complete debt data. The intention is to collate and verify this information for release in mid-2024, prior to the Parliamentary summer recess, and thereafter return to releasing this information on an annual basis along with details of London Congestion Charge debt.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much his Department spent on gym (a) facilities and (b) equipment in each of the last five financial years.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
FCDO expenditure on gym facilities and equipment in King Charles Street, Hanslope Park, and Abercrombie House in the last 5 financial years is as follows:
| 2018-19 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | |
| Equipment | £1,900.33 | £77,292.58 | £9,328.87 |
| Facility | £0.00 | £45,334.06 | £17,293.64 |
| Total | £1,900.33 | £122,626.64 | £26,622.51 |
FCDO expenditure on gym facilities and equipment overseas is the responsibility of individual posts, this information is not centrally held and could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many full-time equivalent staff employed at what grades have been appointed to his Department’s Major Events Unit; and what total budget has been allocated to the work of that unit for (a) 2023-24 and (b) 2024-25.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The HMG Major Events Unit has 3x full-time staff employed by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office at the following grades; 1x Deputy Director, 1x Grade 7 & 1x HEO. The Unit does not hold budgetary responsibility for its work conducted on HMG events. All expenses incurred by the Unit when working on events are charged directly to that event's budget.