Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many staff from his Department or seconded from other Ministerial Departments have been assigned to roles in the (a) British Embassy, Pristina, (b) United Nations Mission in Kosovo, (c) NATO Kosovo Force, (d) European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo and (e) other international organisations' missions in Kosovo in each year since 2008.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has been unable to provide all the information requested. Where this is the case, I have provided an explanation. In addition, where staff numbers are below five people, I have not specified the exact figure. In addition, as a matter of policy, we do not disclose exact figures where staff numbers are below five people.

(a) As of 31 March each year between 2013 and 2018, the following number of Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) UK-based staff have been posted to the British Embassy in Pristina:

These numbers include staff who were on interchange from other Whitehall departments for the duration of their posting on FCO terms and conditions of service.

The FCO does not hold centrally a breakdown of how many FCO UK-based staff were overseas between 2008 to 2012. We are only able to provide information on the total FCO UK-based headcount data. The FCO outlined these figures in a previous Parliamentary Question (142785):

https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmhansrd/cm130226/text/130226w0002.htm

(b) The Government provided secondees to the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) between 1999 and 2008. However in the timeframe available, we cannot ascertain whether any such secondees remained in post after 2008. The FCO does not currently second staff to UNMIK.

(c) The FCO does not second staff to the NATO Kosovo Force (KFOR). Each year from 2009 to 2016, there were UK-based Ministry of Defence (MOD) civilian staff deployed to Kosovo as Deputy Director or Director to the NATO Advisory and Liaison Team (and its predecessor organisations). The FCO currently seconds external staff to the NATO Advisory and Liaison Team. The number each year is under five.

(d) The FCO supplied the following numbers of secondees to the EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX) since 2011. Data on secondees prior to 2011 is not held centrally.

(e) Staff have been seconded by the FCO to the EU Special Representative (EUSR) in Kosovo. The number each year was under five. Staff have previously been seconded by the UK to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) mission in Kosovo. However, from 2008 onwards, these secondees were not paid by the Government; they received living allowances from the OSCE. From 2009 to 2012, seven staff were seconded to the International Civilian Office.