§ 54. Sir John Biggs-Davisonasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to secure a reasonable parity of numbers of staff in diplomatic and consular missions in the United Kingdom with staffs in Her Majesty's missions in the corresponding overseas countries.
§ Mr. RifkindWe do not consider it necessary to secure numerical parity in all cases. Many foreign Governments find it necessary to maintain larger staff in their diplomatic mission in London than we maintain in the corresponding overseas capital. This reflects the importance of London as an international centre for trade, commodities and investment. In other cases it is the British post overseas which is larger than the corresponding foreign mission in London.
Staff levels at British posts overseas are carefully and regularly scrutinised to ensure that they do not exceed the minimum required for the furtherance of British interests and objectives in the country concerned.