Written question asked by Jack Straw (Labour) on Thursday, 15 July 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 21 July 2010. It was answered by Alistair Burt (Conservative) on Wednesday, 21 July 2010 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Departmental Pay

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimates his Department makes of the level of emoluments it pays to locally-engaged staff; and what mechanisms are in place to ensure that the level of such emoluments is in line with that paid to locally-engaged staff of other departments.

Answer: The paybill for locally-engaged staff, as published in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's (FCO) resource accounts, for the 2009-10 financial year was £167.7 million. This figure includes both the salary and pension costs for approximately 10,500 local staff employed by the FCO overseas.A large proportion of local staff employed by other Government Departments are recruited and paid according to the FCO's locally set terms and conditions of service, ensuring equality on emoluments. In 2009 the FCO and the Department for International Development undertook an exercise to ensure local staff pay and benefits for both Departments remained in line with each other and with local market conditions.

Secondary information