HC Deb 12 June 1967 vol 748 cc68-9
4. Mr. Tinn

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will now take steps to recruit members of the Foreign Service from an older age group than that from which new recruits are normally drawn.

Mr. George Thomson

There is a regular annual competition for recruitment to the Administrative Branch of the Diplomatic Service for candidates aged between 27 and 40 (or 45 in the case of candidates with regular service in Her Majesty's Forces or who are serving or have served in Her Majesty's Overseas Civil Service).

Mr. Tinn

Can my right hon. Friend assure me that such people, when accepted, are fully safeguarded from the point of view of superannuation and pension rights, and that they enter at a salary scale appropriate to their age?

Mr. Thomson

Yes, Sir. They normally enter at Second Secretary or First Secretary grade, depending on their experience. The purpose of this is to enrich the diplomatic service with people who bring into it experience from outside—commercial work, journalism, scientific work, and so on.

40. Mr. Coe

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what weight he gives to facility in languages in the choice of candidates for the Diplomatic Service.

Mr. George Thomson

Candidates are expected to demonstrate a capacity to learn languages. They are tested on the basis of the opportunities they have so far had. They need not be already accomplished linguists. The necessary language training is given after entry into the Diplomatic Service.

Mr. Coe

Has there been an improvement in the number of language candidates going into method 2, because three-quarters of the entrants into the Diplomatic Service are examined through method 2 and in the past, apparently, results have been very poor?

Mr. Thomson

As I have told my hon. Friend, our prime qualification is not a language facility on entry but the necessary sort of intellectual capacity and ability.

Sir J. Langford-Holt

Is the knowledge of a language or languages a condition of promotion in the Foreign Service?

Mr. Thomson

Yes, Sir. Once candidates are in the Foreign Service they undergo language training, and there are special incentives to learn particular languages. The Foreign Service has set up its own foreign language centre and has its own language laboratory.