Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department's mystery shopper exercises to test its staff during the covid-19 pandemic is in line with international best practice on how to train consular staff.

The FCDO provides consular staff with extensive training to ensure they respond to British people in an empathetic and knowledgeable manner. We use feedback gathered by our dedicated Insight Team, shadowing, skills practice, and 'mystery shopping' to inform and continually develop the skills and knowledge of our staff. While there is no definitive international best practice on how to train consular staff, the UK is an active member of international consular forums and learns from, and shares experiences and practice with, a range of other countries including on the learning and development of consular staff.