Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many diplomatic positions have been established since June 2016; and what the cost of their salaries is to the public purse.

​The FCO keeps its staff numbers under regular review in response to Ministerial priorities. Since June 2016, in response to the EU referendum, we have added 50 diplomatic positions to our Europe network and a further 6 positions at multilateral posts. The cost of posting these staff – including salary, overseas compensation and accommodation – is £4.2 million. Some of these posts have been funded through resource efficiencies and re-prioritisation identified by the Diplomacy 20:20 transformation programme.