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Written question asked by David Reed (Conservative) on Wednesday, 8 July 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 13 July 2026. It was answered by Hamish Falconer (Labour) on Wednesday, 15 July 2026 on behalf of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

Diplomatic Service: British Nationals Abroad

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many of her staff are trained for deployment as part of her Department's Rapid Deployment Teams for consular crises.

Answer

Consular and crisis support is available 24/7 through the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's (FCDO) contact centre and global network. When a crisis results in increased consular assistance requests, the FCDO may send a Rapid Deployment Team (RDT) to the affected region to support British nationals. A rotating roster ensures that a team can always be deployed at short notice.

In 2024-25, the last full financial year for which data is available, the FCDO answered over 400,000 requests for consular support from British nationals overseas, and provided detailed consular assistance in over 22,000 cases, including giving support to families of more than 6,000 British nationals who had died abroad, and 3,500 who had been hospitalised. In 2024-25, 85% of service users were satisfied with the service received. Extensive further information about consular services is published on GOV.UK and in the FCDO's annual report.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
17249
Session
2026-27
Registered interest declared
Yes
Grouped for answer
Yes
Subjects
Staff British nationals abroad Diplomatic service Training
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk