§ Mr. MilburnTo ask the Secretary of State for Education if she will list the special advisers employed by her Department in each of the last five years indicating when they(a) joined and (b) left his Department and the annual salary they received.
§ Mr. ForthFive special advisers have been employed by the Department in the last five years: Eleanor Laing, Tessa Keswick, David Ruffley, Clifford Grantham, and, most recently, Dr. Elizabeth Cottrell.
Information on special advisers is not retained in the Department once they leave, and dates of joining and leaving are not therefore available.
Salaries for special advisers are negotiated individually in relation to their previous earnings, and are confidential. They are, however, normally paid on a special advisers' salary spine of 34 points, ranging from £19,503 to £67,609. Appointments are non-pensionable, and the salary spine reflects this.