HC Deb 24 May 1993 vol 225 c374W
Lady Olga Maitland

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proportion of his Department's personnel are United Kingdom based; and what information he has on comparable data for the foreign ministries of France and Germany.

Mr. Goodlad

Approximately 61 per cent. of the FCO's diplomatic wing staff and 95 per cent. of the aid wing staff, including the ODA's executive agency, the Natural Resources Institute, fill jobs in the United Kingdom. Approximately 39 per cent of French foreign ministry staff and 47 per cent. of German foreign ministry staff fill jobs in France and Germany respectively. But it is extremely difficult to make valid comparisons between the figures for the FCO and other foreign ministries, because of differences in the functions for which each is responsible; differences in structure; and differences in the division of tasks between home and overseas.