Written question asked by Philip Hollobone (Conservative) on Tuesday, 27 March 2012, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 16 April 2012. It was answered by Lord Bellingham (Conservative) on Monday, 16 April 2012 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Diplomatic Service: Arabic Language

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many Arabic-speaking British national diplomatic staff in UK embassies and consulates work in (a) Arab and (b) non-Arab countries.

Answer: In support of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's (FCO) Diplomatic Excellence initiative we are aiming to significantly raise standards of staff language skills throughout the organisation. We are strategically targeting key positions overseas to ensure extra training improves the language capability of staff; especially to be able to negotiate and influence more effectively. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague) recently announced that the FCO is also opening a new language centre, which will train up to 500 members of staff a year.Approximately 6% of the overall FCO workforce have registered Arabic skills at some level. Of these Arabic speakers, approximately 21% are in Arabic speaking countries overseas with a further 10% in middle east and North Africa Directorate and Africa Directorate in London. The other 69% of our Arabic speakers are based either in overseas posts in non-Arabic speaking countries or other parts of the FCO in London.

Secondary information