HC Deb 01 November 1966 vol 735 cc70-3W
Mr. Derek Page

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what proportion of commercial posts in the Diplomatic Service are filled by personnel recruited from industry or commerce.

Mrs. White

At present some 200 officers in the representational grades have a commercial or industrial background and of these 54 (about 15 per cent. of United Kingdom based officers doing commercial work) are engaged on commercial work full time.

In addition 484 locally engaged commercial officers, specifically recruited for their knowledge of local markets, are working in commercial sections of our Missions abroad.

Normally, there is no direct recruitment in the United Kingdom for specific commercial posts. Recruits from industry and commerce enter through the normal and supplementary (over age) competitions as full members of the Diplomatic Service.

Date Name Accompanied by Place Purpose Actual Estimted and Cost
£ s. d.
23/11/64 Lord Chalfont Supporting Staff* Washington Disarmament 980 2 10
30/11/64 Mr. W. Padley Supporting Staff Paris W.E.U. 42 9 0
1/12/64 Lord Walston Supporting Staff Mexico Presidential Inauguration 1,026 7 5
7/12/64 (3 visits) Lord Walston Supporting Staff Paris N.A.T.O. 98 4 2
6/1/65 Lord Walston Supporting Staff Paris N.A.T.O. 54 4 3
30/3/65 Lord Chalfont Supporting Staff Paris N.A.T.O. 73 15 0
Rt. Hon. G. Thomson Supporting Staff Paris N.A.T.O.
March, 1965 Lord Chalfont Supporting Staff New York and Washington Disarmament 802 1 3
April, 1965 Lord Chalfont 3 Officials Supporting Staff New York Disarmament 7,150 12 3
April, 1965 Rt. Hon. G. Thomson Supporting Staff U.S. P.M.'s Visit to U.S. 1,955 2 2
6/5/65 Mr. W. Padley Supporting Staff Strasbourg Council of Europe 157 4 0
26/5/65 Lord Chalfont Lady Chalfont and supporting Staff Scandinavia Official Tour 289 3 0
26/5/65 Lord Walston Supporting Staff Paris W.E.U. 30 12 6
24/6/65 Rt. Hon. G. Thomson Supporting Staff Washington Conference on Africa 594 6 11
12/7/65 Rt. Hon. G. Thomson 1 Official and Supporting Staff Paris N.A.T.O. 110 10 10
26/7/65 (5 Visits) Lord Chalfont Supporting Staff Geneva Disarmament 721 7 9
21/9/65 Lord Walston Supporting Staff Berlin and Brussels — 96 16 0
24/9/65 Rt. Hon. G. Thomson 2 Officials and Supporting Staff Cairo and Jedda — 1,030 6 0
2/10/65 Rt. Hon. G. Thomson 1 Official and Supporting Staff Roumania, Bulgaria Israel 795 9 9
4/10/65 Lord Walston Supporting Staff Paris 36 4 0
10/12/65 Mr. Walter Padley Supporting Staff Paris N.A.T.O. 78 12 0
7/1/66 Lord Walston Supporting Staff Latin America 1,128 10 3
* Usually one Private Secretary.

Mr. Arthur Lewis

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will detail in HANSARD particulars of overseas visits made by Ministers in his Department during the past two years; for what purposes and at what costs these visits were made; and what have been the results of such visits.

Mrs. White

The details are as follows:

Date Name Accompanied by Place Purpose Actual and Estimated Cost
£ s. d.
January 1966 Lord Chalfont Supporting Staff Washington Disarmament 1,034 6 6
24/1/66 (3 Visits) Lord Chalfont Supporting Staff Geneva Disarmament 432 17 10
21/2/66 Lord Chalfont Supporting Staff Moscow P.M.'s Visit 268 18 5
6/4/66 Lord Walston Supporting Staff Lisbon Talks with Sir A. Ross 214 4 6
14/4/66 Rt. Hon. G. Thomsor Supporting Staff Paris 1066 Celebration 37 7 0
26/4/66 Lord Chalfont Supporting Staff Paris E.L.D.O. 112 13 10
May 1966 Rt. Hon. G. Thomson 2 Officials and Supporting Staff Paris and Brussels Talks on N.A.T.O. 396 12 1
9/5/66 Rt. Hon. G. Thomson 3 Officials Oslo Trade Fair and E.F.T.A. 304 8 4
May 1966 Rt. Hon. G. Thomson 6 Officials Washington Ottawa 1,258 5 7
11/6/66 Lord Walston Supporting Staff Hong Kong Heads of Missions Conference and Official Tour 1,615 14 5
July 1966 Lord Chalfont Paris E.L.D.O. 24 16 0
29/7/66 Lord Walston Supporting Staff South America 1,163 5 0
July/August 1966 (2 Visits) Lord Chalfont Supporting Staff Geneva Disarmament 262 11 4
14/8/66 Lord Caradon Scandinavia U.N. Affairs 85 17 0
12/9/66 Rt. Hon. G. Thomson Supporting Staff Greece 297 5 8
December, 1965 Lord Chalfont Supporting Staff Tokyo Disarmament 1,728 8 7
25/1/66 Lord Chalfont Supporting Staff Paris Disarmament 9 2 4
1/3/55 Lord Chalfont Supporting Staff Geneva Disarmament 141 14 4
6/3/66 Lord Chalfont Supporting Staff The Hague and Bonn Disarmament 69 15 1
24/3/66 Lord Chalfont 3 Officials Supporting Staff Moscow Disarmament 926 17 9
22/5/66 Mrs. White and Lord Caradon Ottawa U.N. affairs 1,542 13 4
14/7/66 Lord Chalfont Supporting Staff Warsaw Disarmament 404 5 6
July, 1966 Lord Chalfont Supporting Staff Canada and U.S. Disarmament 669 10 11
July, 1966 Lord Chalfont — Salzburg Disarmament 35 6 8
15/9/66 Mrs. Eirene White Supporting Staff Berlin Industries Fair 121 16 10
28/9/66 Lord Chalfont Supporting Staff Copenhagen Talks 135 8 6
29/9/66 Rt. Hon. G. Thomson Supporting Staff Paris W.E.U. 88 12 0