Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much (a) funding is available for voluntary exit schemes in (i) his Department and (ii) non-departmental public bodies sponsored by his Department and (b) his Department has forecast will be spent expenditure on voluntary exits in each financial year until 2029-30; and what estimate he has made of the number of voluntary exits from his Department in each financial year until 2029-30.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office agreed a voluntary exit scheme settlement for Financial Year 2025/2026 with His Majesty's Treasury of £35 million. The current scheme does not include any non-departmental bodies. Exits must be completed by the end of the financial year and will total around 500 exits. This is an estimated figure as applicants may withdraw from the scheme. There are no plans for a further scheme at this time. Voluntary exit schemes are a helpful and commonly used process by most large organisations, and future schemes will vary in scale and scope to meet business need. All future plans will be subject to the outcome of Phase 2 of the Spending Review.