Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many citizens of non-UK EU countries work in (a) his Department, (b) its agencies and (c) its non-departmental public bodies.

The Alien's Employment Act 1955 makes it a requirement that all FCO UK-based staff must be British nationals or dual nationals where one of those nationalities is British. We do not centrally hold details of the nationality of our UK-based staff who are dual nationals. To provide that information would require us to examine the individual record of each officer.

Local staff are recruited directly by our overseas missions. Staff are therefore governed by local labour laws, not UK legisation, and are employed by the Mission in which they work. Local staff must have the right to work and reside in the country of the vacancy. We do not centrally hold details of the nationality of our staff employed locally overseas.

The FCO does not hold details of the nationality of staff working for its agencies and its non-departmental public bodies.