Foreign Secretary William Hague has pledged extra money for FCO staff language training in a £1m programme to improve the UK’s ability to operate more effectively overseas: "We are turning around the decline in language teaching in the Foreign Office so that we build a cadre of language expertise to support British foreign policy over the long term."
"We plan to spend up to £1m more each year teaching languages to our staff – a 30 per cent increase over the 2010/11 financial year – we are increasing the number of jobs overseas for which language skills will be an absolute requirement which will enable us to make more of an impact on the ground, and I can announce that we will reopen a language centre here in the Foreign Office itself."
Mr Hague has promised to safeguard the long term capability of the organisation in the national interest.
More information: http://www.publicservice.co.uk/news_story.asp?id=17415.