Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, by what date will staff employed by her Department and staff employed by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have harmonised contracts as part of the proposed merger of those Departments.

Although some work had already started on aligning terms and conditions before the Machinery of Government changes were announced, it is too early to be able to say precisely when all contracts will be harmonised. As some of the changes will have financial implications, it is expected to be after the next Spending Review.