Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many staff in her Department have permission to work remotely outside the UK; and in which countries those staff are based.

In line with wider Government policy, the Department policy allows spouses of Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office officials to work abroad when their spouses have been posted overseas. The Department allows working abroad when officials are overseas on official business, typically to support Ministers.

If there is a clear business need, the Department allows officials to take equipment abroad to keep in touch whilst on leave. The Department also allows working overseas for up to two weeks for exceptional welfare reasons

The numbers of staff with equipment oversees varies during the year. On 9 July, seven officials were working overseas on official business in Italy. 10 officials had equipment overseas allowing them to work if there was a need to keep in touch in, variously, Belgium, Bulgaria, France (three), Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States of America (three).