Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he has taken to reduce the number of incidents of (a) discrimination and (b) harassment within his Department.

Tackling bullying, harassment and discrimination is a priority for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Senior Management Board. Senior management are agreed that none has any place in the FCO.

The steps we have taken include but are not limited to: focused support for 30 overseas posts and UK- based departments according to which figured most in the FCO's staff survey; consideration of Senior Management Staff's records at promotion and performance moderation panels; a new learning and development programme for our network of staff with responsibility for addressing complaints; and an internal communications plan, 'Taking Action Together', to raise awareness of the issue, and so encourage staff to report their concerns and help staff to take action to tackle the issue. We also continue to promote the Civil Service's unconscious bias course to help raise awareness and reduce incidents of discrimination; the course is now a requirement for all staff.