§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the impact of the temporary appointment of a minority ethnic liaison officer; under what length of contract the current officer is employed; and what was the budget allocation for the officer's work in(a) 1998–99, (b) 1999–2000 and (c) 2000–01. [148886]
§ Mr. WilsonLinbert Spencer was employed as the Department's minority ethnic liaison adviser from December 1999 to November 2001. He continues to provide the Department with advice on a consultancy basis. He has made a major contribution to widening the Department's recruitment base to minority ethnic communities and to ensuring it benefits from the diversity of its current staff. No specific budget is allocated to this work.