To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many officials in his Department are on secondment, broken down by (a) job title, (b) grade and (c) Department or institution from which they are seconded. (253707)

[holding answer 2 February 2009]: As at 1 January 2009 there were 267 officials seconded to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from a wide range of other Government Departments or institutions. The 267 officials comprise 29 senior management level, 11 at D7, 98 at D6, 31 at C5, 84 at C4, 13 at B3 and one at A2 level. For security reasons it would be inappropriate to provide a breakdown by job title and Department or institution.