Departmental Staff David Simpson To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many people over the age of 55 years have been recruited into her Department in each of the last three years. Mr. Hoon The number of staff aged 55 and over recruited into the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in each of the last three years is as follows: ----------------------- |Financial year|Number| ----------------------- |2003-04 |17 | ----------------------- |2004-05 |13 | ----------------------- |2005-06 |14 | -----------------------