HC Deb 11 May 1977 vol 931 cc512-4W
Mr. MacFarquhar

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) how many posts for third secretaries and above there are at British embassies in German-speaking countries; and how many are currently occupied by Foreign and Commonweath Office personnel who have passed the Civi Service examination in German;

(2) how many posts for third secretaries and above there are at British embassies in French-speaking countries; and how many are currently occupied by Foreign and Commonwealth Office personnel who have passed the Civil Service examination in French;

(3) how many posts for third secretaries and above there are at the British Embassy in Moscow; and how many are currently occupied by Foreign and Commonwealth Office personnel who have passed the Civil Service examination in Russian;

(4) how many posts for third secretaries and above there are at British embassies in Spanish-speaking countries; and how many are currently occupied by Foreign and Commonwealth Office personnel who have passed the Civil Service examination in Spanish;

(5) how many Foreign and Commonwealth Office personnel of the rank of third secretary and above have passed the Civil Service examination in German;

(6) how many Foreign and Commonwealth Office personnel of the rank of third secretary and above have passed the Civil Service examination in French;

(7) how many Foreign and Commonwealth Office personnel of the rank of third secretary and above have passed the Civil Service examination in Russian;

(8) how many Foreign and Commonwealth Office personnel of the rank of third secretary and above have passed the Civil Service examination in Spanish;

(9) how many posts for third secretaries and above there are at the British Embassy in Teheran; and how many are currently occupied by Foreign and Commonwealth Office personnel who have passed the Civil Service examination in Persian;

(10) how many Foreign and Commonwealth Office personnel of the rank of third secretary and above have passed the Civil Service examination in Japanese; and how many at each level of proficiency;

(11) how many posts for third secretaries and above there are at the British embassies in Arabic-speaking countries; and how many are currently occupied by Foreign and Commonwealth Office personnel who have passed the Civil Service examination in Arabic;

(12) how many posts for third secretaries and above there are at the British Embassy in Japan; and how many are currently occupied by Foreign and Commonwealth Office personnel who have passed the Civil Service examination in Japanese;

(13) how many Foreign and Commonwealth Office personnel of the rank of third secretary and above have passed the Civil Service examination in Portuguese.

(14) how many Foreign and Commonwealth Office civil servants of the rank of third secretary and above have passed the Civil Service examination in Arabic; and how many at each level of proficiency;

(15) how many posts for third secretaries and above there are at British embassies in Portuguese-speaking countries; and how many are currently occupied by Foreign and Commonwealth Office personnel who have passed the Civil Service examination in Portuguese.

Mr. Tomlinson

The information requested is set out in Tables 1 and 2 below. It relates to Foreign and Commonwealth Office personnel in Grades 1–8 and equivalent as at 5th May 1977, and covers all such personnel serving in the countries specified including consular posts and missions accredited to international organisations. The numbers of officers who have passed Civil Service Commission language examinations do not take account of examinations held in February and March, the results of which had not been received on 5th May.

TABLE 1
Column (a)—Number of posts in Grades 1–8 (and equivalent) in the countries specified.
Column (b)—Number of Foreign and Commonwealth Office personnel in these grades currently serving in the countries specified who have passed a Civil Service Commission examination in the language.
Column (c)—Total number of Foreign and Commonwealth Office personnel in those grades who have passed a Civil Service Commission examination in the language.
Countries (a) (b) (c)
Arabic-speaking 113 46 171
French-speaking 213 44 203
German-speaking 135 48 125
Portuguese-speaking 32 15 48
Spanish-speaking 97 34 123
Iran 16 3 30
Japan 30 13 62
USSR 21 10 81

TABLE 2
Number of Civil Service Commission language examination passes at each level
Language Lower Intermediate Higher Advance Total
Arabic 8 63 99 1 171
Japanese 4 18 22 18 62