Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to his Department’s publication of spending over £500 with a Government procurement card, what services were purchased by his Department from Ashridge on (a) 1 April 2021 and (b) 17 June 2022; and for what purpose they were required.

This refers to language training and e-learning for Country Based staff in Brazil. Investing in the skills of our people is critical to the delivery of our priorities and goals, It underpins our ability to learn, innovate and continuously improve.

Government Procurement Cards provide an efficient route to enable key staff to procure goods and services necessary to the promotion of British interests overseas. All purchases are subject to authorisation by managers and audit checks. Local budgets are scrutinised for waste, and fraud is monitored by our audit teams to ensure best value to the tax payer.