Hilary Benn – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2015-11-05.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many (a) staff of which grades and (b) desk teams were working on Russia in his Department in (i) 2011, (ii) 2012, (iii) 2013, (iv) 2014 and (v) the latest date for which figures are available.

Mr Philip Hammond

The FCO’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Directorate has one team working directly on Russia, and a significant proportion of the work across the Directorate is also focused on Russia. In addition, many teams and staff at all grades across the wider FCO and its overseas network have responsibilities which relate directly or indirectly, to Russia.

The breakdown of staff numbers for the Eastern Europe and Central Asia Directorate in 2013-15 (overseas and at home) is as follows:

31 March 2013 – 116

31 March 2014 – 106

31 March 2015 – 119

31 October 2015 – 114

Figures prior to 2013 are not available broken down by by Department. In 2014, following the crisis in Ukraine, we reinforced the FCO’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Directorate by increasing the number of senior staff and deputy directors, as well as expanding the Russia and Ukraine Teams. This included an SMS 2 Director, in addition to an SMS 1 Additional Director. In 2011, 2012 and 2013 the Director position was graded at SMS 1. Other Government Departments have also increased resources on Russia.