Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many country specialists for (a) Russia, (b) China, (c) North Korea, (d) the US, (e) Syria and (f) India are employed by his Department.

It is not possible to identify the exact number of country specialists working on these countries within the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Career Diplomats develop longer-term expertise on countries, linked to their language skills and pattern of relevant work in London or in post. We also have expertise within our local staff colleagues across the network. In London, we have at any one time approximately 10 specialist Research Analysts focussed on these countries and additional Research Analysts working on relevant regional issues and countries.