Foreign Office spent £13m on private school fees
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The Foreign Office spent more than £13 million sending the children of British diplomats to private schools last year, it was revealed.
The bill to the taxpayer for officers serving overseas was £5.8 million and £7.4 million was spent on UK-based staff, official figures show.
The total spent in 2009-10 on the continuity of education allowance was for the 521 children of 339 staff. Those staff represent about 6% of the department's workforce.
Separately, 48 members of the Department for International Development on overseas postings received payments worth £1.3 million and these were used to pay to send children to private schools including Fettes College, Winchester College and Marlborough College.
The details of the allowances were unearthed by Labour's Gloria De Piero in response to written parliamentary questions.
In reply, Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt said diplomats had to be prepared to serve anywhere in the world, often at very short notice.
He added: "Members of the diplomatic service pay UK tax wherever they work and are entitled to have their children educated at public expense. Most parents prefer to take their children with them on posting, but in some countries we do not permit staff to take their children either for health or security reasons. In others, local schools of an acceptable standard are not available."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments