Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many officials in her Department hold language qualifications in (a) Mandarin, (b) Cantonese, (c) Russian, (d) Ukrainian, (e) Arabic, (f) Farsi, and (g) Hebrew, broken down by C1 and C2 levels.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The language proficiency of Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) staff cannot adequately be assessed solely by looking at the number with current C1 and C2 qualifications, as this does not take into account those staff members who may hold other qualifications in those languages or be native speakers. A full record of staff language capabilities is not centrally held, and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many staff were involved in conducting the Equality Impact Assessment of Official Development Assistance programme allocations for 2025 to 2026, published on 22 July 2025; and how many hours were spent by (a) Departmental staff and (b) external consultants in its preparation.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The requested information is not readily available, and could only be obtained for the purposes of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much his Department spent on communications in the last year for which data is available.
Answered by Catherine West
The Government develops wide-ranging national and international campaigns which are delivered through tailored communication strategies aimed at reaching target audiences. The total FCDO Communication Directorate's communication campaign activity for FY23-24 was £6,435,000. We remain committed to scrutiny, transparency, and best value for taxpayer money. Please note that the majority of campaign expenditure is covered by other relevant Departments.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what diplomatic steps he is taking to help counter Chinese aggression against India.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan
Relations between these two countries are a matter for their governments to progress and manage through peaceful means.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how many staff in their Department have job titles that include the words (a) equality, (b) diversity, (c) inclusion, (d) gender, (e) LGBT and (f) race.
Answered by David Rutley
The Government is auditing the cost-effectiveness of all equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) activities, through the review of EDI spending announced last June. As stated in the Autumn Statement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Minister for Cabinet Office will be outlining the final proposals in response to the review in due course. Information on job titles is not collected centrally in the FCDO.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how many equalities impact assessments his Department completed in each of the last five years for which data is available.
Answered by David Rutley
Under the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) the FCDO is required to pay due regard to the need to: eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between different people when carrying out their activities. Equality Impact Assessments (EIAs) are one of the tools used to assess whether a new policy or change to existing policy is likely to have a disproportionate impact on those with protected characteristics as defined in the 2010 Equality Act. The FCDO does not centrally monitor how many EIAs are completed, therefore no information is held on this question.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many people work in the diversity and inclusion team in his Department's human resources department.
Answered by Nigel Adams
Diversity and inclusion work is the responsibility of a number of people working in HR and across the network in the FCDO, including circa 25 members of staff from the former FCO and DFID diversity and inclusion teams.
The FCDO is committed to putting diversity and inclusion at its heart, and is working towards its aspiration to be the most inclusive government department.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many people his Department and its agencies employ in teams working on issues relating to diversity, equality or inclusion.
Answered by Nigel Adams
This information is not held centrally. The FCDO is committed to putting diversity, equality and inclusion at its heart.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many members of staff in their Department have one or more of the words equality, diversity, inclusion, gender, LGBT or race in their job title.
Answered by Nigel Adams
This information is not held centrally. The FCDO is committed to putting diversity and inclusion at its heart.