To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many staff in her Department did not achieve an acceptable mark in their annual report in each of the last three years; and what percentage this represented of the total number of staff in each case. (75119)

Under the Department’s performance improvement procedures introduced in October 2004, unacceptable performance has to be addressed as soon as it occurs rather than waiting for the appraisal cycle to complete. Central records record cases of poor performance current at the end of the appraisal year. The number of staff who did not achieve an acceptable mark in their annual report over the past three years was as follows:

Annual report markings for 2005-06 financial year are not yet available.

Rigorous Performance Management is one of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s management priorities. New training for all senior managers in performance management was introduced in the last year.