Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what estimate he has made of the total staffing costs for (a) his Department; and (b) non-departmental public bodies sponsored by his Department for (a) the current financial year and (b) the 2025-26 financial year.

In 2024-25, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office estimates total staffing costs to be £975 million and employer national insurance (NI) costs to be £44 million. Budget allocation and workforce planning processes for 2025-26 are in progress but have not been finalised. The workforce budgets of non-departmental bodies are not set by the Department and it does not hold that information. The Department has not estimated the NI costs of its suppliers. The impact of tax changes would be taken into account along with all other changes to their cost base in the usual way through contract negotiations.