§ Mr. ForthTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many civil servants in his Department at grade 3 or above have(a) resigned, (b) retired before pensionable age and (c) moved to different responsibilities within the Department since 1 May 1997; if he will indicate the Ministers to whom each was responsible; and if he will make a statement. [26917]
§ Mr. FatchettNo civil servants in this Department at grade 3 or above have resigned since 1 May 1997. Four people have retired before pensionable age since 1 May as part of an ongoing programme of senior management structure retirements on structural grounds; they reported to four different Ministers. All of these early retirements were approved before 1 May 1997. About a quarter of the officers at grade 3 and above have changed jobs since 1 May either as part of the normal rotation of ambassadors and other senior staff, interchange with other Government Departments or on promotion. Such moves are planned up to a year in advance especially to/from foreign postings or where training is required. A high level of mobility is a feature of FCO work and roughly a third of all UK based FCO staff change jobs in any given year. Statistics on the precise number of moves and which Ministers had responsibility for the posts and Departments people left could be provided only at disproportionate cost.