Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many officials in his Department completed the Civil Service Employment Policy Performance Management System in 2013-14; how many and what proportion of those officials received the (a) exceeded, (b) met and (c) must improve performance mark; and how many and what proportion (i) did and (ii) did not qualify for a bonus under that process.

The new Civil Service Employee Policy Performance Management system applies to UK-based staff in the delegated grades (Band A (AA-AO) to Band D (G6/7). Senior Civil Servants (SCS) follow Cabinet Office guidance on performance management.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) adopted the new Performance Management System in April 2013. The Department operates a split appraisal cycle with Bands C (HEO/SEO) and D using the financial year and Bands A and B (AA/AO/EO) using the calendar year. Bands C and D used the new policy for appraisal year 2013/2014, with Band D appraisals being subject to performance validation. Bands A and B only started to use the new system from 1 January 2014 and will complete their cycle in December. The FCO uses the third box marking of “Partially Met” rather than “Must Improve”. We also have a guided distribution in place across the ratings as follows:
Exceeded – 25%
Met – 60%
Partially Met – 15%
The FCO takes seriously its obligations to collect diversity data as required by the Equality Act 2010. Information about the diversity and makeup of our staff is listed in the FCO's Diversity and Equality Report. We will complete an analysis of the appraisal and performance related pay (PRP) data for diversity purposes early in 2015 once all staff have completed one full year on the new system.