To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proportion of people employed by (a) his Department and (b) its agencies are disabled. (153600)

250 staff serving in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) at 30 September 2006 had declared a disability. This represents 4 per cent. of our total UK-based workforce. These figures include staff at Wilton Park Conference Centre and in FCO Services, both executive agencies of the FCO.

The latest published data records the disability status of civil servants in departments and agencies at 30 September 2006. It appears in “Civil Service Statistics 2006” at Table P. This document is produced by the Office for National Statistics and can be accessed from the following web-site addresses:

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=2899&Pos=&ColRank=1&Rank=422.

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_labour/2006CivilServiceStatistics.pdf.

Declaration of a disability is voluntary.