To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many full-time equivalent members of staff in his Department are employed on projects relating to the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics Games; how many of those work on (a) project management, (b) legacy planning, (c) project oversight and (d) financial oversight; and what plans he has for future staffing levels in each case. (221865)

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) created a new full-time D6 (First Secretary) Olympics position on 1 September 2008 to work on the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The FCO envisages that by London 2012 a full team of staff will be working on London 2012 projects (including on security, public diplomacy and protocol). However, it is difficult to predict at this stage how many staff might be involved in this work.

The British Council has eight full-time equivalent members of staff working on projects related to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Of these, project management accounts for four full-time posts. Legacy planning, project oversight and financial oversight jointly account for four full-time posts. From 2009 to 2013, the British Council intends to recruit an additional 15 project management posts (three year period per post).