Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what the Government's timescale is for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office becoming fully operational.

Following the announcement on 16 June of the Prime Minister's decision to merge the FCO and DFID work began immediately on creating the new department, which will be formally established in early September. The process of fully integrating DFID and FCO's operations in the UK and overseas will be developed and delivered through a phased transformation programme.