Written question asked by Lord Hammond of Runnymede (Conservative) on Monday, 1 March 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 3 March 2010. It was answered by Phil Woolas (Labour) on Wednesday, 24 March 2010 on behalf of the Home Office.

Departmental Languages

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) Ministers and (b) civil servants in his Department received coaching in a foreign language in the last 12 months; what expenditure his Department incurred in providing such coaching; and in what languages such coaching was provided.

Answer: The information requested is as follows:"(a) No Home Office Ministers have attended coaching in a foreign language in the last 12 months.""(b) There is no central mechanism for recording coaching in a foreign language for Home Office staff; to gather this information would incur a disproportionate cost. Where there is a business need, particularly for staff involved in EU and international business, language training is available and paid for out of local training budgets."

Secondary information