I am today laying before Parliament the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Departmental Report for 1 April 2005—31 March 2006 (Cm 6823).

The report is a clear and comprehensive account of what the FCO has done under the leadership of my right hon. Friend the former Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs over the last financial year. It sets out our achievements, including how we performed against our public service agreement targets. It gives details of how we spent public funds. And it shows that the FCO has delivered real successes for the Government and for the British public during the period of the report.

The most visible way in which the FCO protects the interests of British people is through our public services. Over the past year, our consular network has dealt with major crises from hurricanes in the United States and Mexico to terrorist bombings in Egypt as well as helping tens of thousands of other British people in distress overseas. We also run the fastest large-scale visa operation in the world.

The FCO has continued to deliver increased prosperity through its support for British business. UK Trade and Investment, our joint operation with the Department for Trade and Industry, helped to attract record levels of inward investment. Our network around the world also made a significant contribution to bringing the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games to London.

In addition to these direct services, the FCO delivers real benefits to British people through active diplomacy. We used the twin UK presidencies of the European Union and of the G8 to help us meet strategic objectives, including starting talks on Turkey's accession to the EU, agreeing the EU budget, and taking concrete action to help development in Africa and to manage climate change. We have engaged bilaterally and multilaterally across the globe, most notably in the middle east. We have supported democracy in Iraq, we have built an international consensus over Iran's nuclear ambitions, and we have led the response to fast-moving developments in the middle east peace process.

The FCO played a central role in making sure there was international co-operation following the 7 July attacks in London and was also active in cementing measures to strengthen the international response to terrorism.

Other important achievements included hostingthe London conference on Afghanistan which set the agenda for the next phase of reconstructing the country. During our EU presidency we played a leading role at the UN world summit which, among other things, agreed the formation of a new Human Rights Committee and of a new Peace Building Commission.

The FCO remains strong in traditional skills, but continues to adapt and develop new ones. Our trained consular rapid deployment teams are ready to go anywhere at a moment's notice to help British people in trouble. We are further developing skills in project and programme management. Our overseas network won "Investors in People" accreditation in December 2005, which means that the whole of the FCO is now accredited by the scheme.

We deploy our resources where they can add real value to UK interests and the work of other Government Departments. We use information technology to help us work more flexibly and effectively. We are becoming more diverse as we aim for challenging targets for numbers of women, disabled and minority ethnic staff.

The report makes clear the commitment of FCO staff and records the concrete and specific benefits they have delivered over the past financial year. It also sets out how we are learning lessons for the future. The FCO's white paper, "Active Diplomacy for a Changing World: The UK's International Priorities", published on 28 March, will provide a firm foundation for maintaining this strong performance for the future. I look forward to the FCO delivering this strong performance under my leadership as Foreign Secretary. I commend this report.