Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he plans to provide observer status for British Overseas Territories at the Commonwealth Summit in London in April 2018; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Alistair Burt
The UK is committed to strengthening the links between Commonwealth countries. However, the only category of Commonwealth membership is that of sovereign states. Any decision to create a new membership status would need to be agreed by consensus of Commonwealth Heads of Government.
Accordingly, whilst the Overseas Territories are unable to attend the Heads of Government Meeting in their own right, their interests will be represented by Her Majesty's Government at the Summit next April. My hon. Friend Minister of State for the Commonwealth and the UN will be discussing a range of issues, including the Commonwealth Summit, with Overseas Territories' leaders at the Joint Ministerial Council at the end of this month.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many UK nationals are employed in UK embassies in EU countries.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) employs around 200 UK-based staff in its bilateral Embassies to the Member States of the European Union. By law such staff must be UK nationals or dual nationals.
The FCO also employs around 1100 locally employed staff in these Embassies. Many are UK nationals or dual nationals but the FCO does not collect data centrally on their nationality.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many people are employed in the UK Permanent Representation to the EU.
Answered by Alan Duncan
There are over 120 officials currently employed at the UK’s Permanent Representation to the EU.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many civil servants in his Department have responsibilities which include EU-related matters.
Answered by Alan Duncan
Staff in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's (FCO) Europe Directorate lead on providing advice to FCO Ministers on the EU and EU-related issues. However, staff in other Directorates in London, as well as staff in our diplomatic missions around the world, also on occasion work on EU-related issues. Therefore, it is not possible to give precise figures.