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registered interest true more like this
date less than 2016-02-02more like thismore than 2016-02-02
answering body
Foreign and Commonwealth Office more like this
answering dept id 16 more like this
answering dept short name Foreign and Commonwealth Office more like this
answering dept sort name Foreign and Commonwealth Office more like this
hansard heading Diplomatic Service: Languages more like this
house id 1 more like this
legislature
25259
pref label House of Commons more like this
question text To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the duration of ambassadorial postings (a) where HM Ambassador is a speaker of the official language of the country to which he is posted (b) where HM Ambassador's primary foreign language is not that of the country to which he is posted. more like this
tabling member constituency Bristol North West more like this
tabling member printed
Charlotte Leslie more like this
uin 25452 more like this
answer
answer
is ministerial correction false more like this
date of answer less than 2016-02-09more like thismore than 2016-02-09
answer text <p>The majority of Heads of Mission have a tour length of three or four years, unless they are posted to a hardship or conflict post where the tour may be shorter. Around 100 Heads of Mission roles require language skills and are designated “speaker slots”.</p><p>We offer language training to Heads of Mission where this is required. The FCO Language Centre was re-opened in September 2013 to renew the focus and investment in languages as a core diplomatic skill to ensure that we get the right people with the right skills in the right jobs to deliver our foreign policy objectives. The Language Centre gives us a strong platform to grow our language skills as an organisation and develop a pipeline of talent to fill language slots on a continuous basis. It is essential that all our Heads of Mission have the necessary skills, including languages, to do their jobs. Many of our Heads of Mission will return to Posts where they have existing language capability, in these cases we will provide top up or refresher training. Our Head of Mission Appointment Boards take into account language skills as part of the overall assessment of suitability for a role. In some cases the best candidate may not already speak the language and for these roles we will provide longer training to reach the requisite level. We encourage all those who have undergone language training to maintain their language skills throughout their careers.</p>
answering member constituency Bournemouth East remove filter
answering member printed Mr Tobias Ellwood more like this
question first answered
remove filter
answering member
1487
label Biography information for Mr Tobias Ellwood more like this
tabling member
3933
label Biography information for Charlotte Leslie more like this