§ Mr. Ieuan Wyn JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many lawyers are employed by her Department; and how many were employed in 1995. [117809]
§ Clare ShortMy Department does not employ any lawyers to act on behalf of the Department. We buy in legal services from the Scottish Executive and Treasury Solicitors to meet our requirements.
In the implementation of its overseas development assistance programme, DFID employs contract staff to provide legal advisory and executive functions to overseas governments. DFID currently employs eight lawyers on this basis as compared with 21 in 1995.