Diplomatic Service: Disability

(asked on 6th January 2021) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he has taken to increase representation within the Diplomatic Service of people with a disability.


Answered by
Nigel Adams Portrait
Nigel Adams
This question was answered on 15th January 2021

The FCDO is a Disability Confident Leader (DCL) - reflecting the DCL status of both legacy departments, FCO and DFID. This is reflected in the organisation's recruitment policies. For both external and internal appointments, an interview is guaranteed to anyone with a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the role outlined in the relevant job specification.

For the FCO (which comprises the Diplomatic Service), the most recent Annual Report provides information on:
- the representation of UK Based employees with disabilities at 31 March 2020 (11% total; 7% in the Senior Management Structure)
- how the FCO continued to increase the diversity of the workforce through targeted apprenticeship schemes, internships programmes and promoting the FCO as a great place to work at outreach events.
- disability policy and support in the organisation.

The FCDO's Disability Update: Progress against DFID's strategy for Disability Inclusive Development (November 2020) also has a section on 'living our values'. This details information that was happening across both legacy departments (FCO and DFID) and how we plan to build on this in our approach to attracting and recruiting employees with disabilities and making the most of their potential while working for FCDO.

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