§ Mr. YeoTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many staff the Department and each agency and non-departmental public body for which the Department is responsible had in each year since 1997; and what the cost of those staff was in each of those years. [122263]
§ Alun MichaelData on staffing levels in the civil service are collected from departments and agencies twice yearly, in April and October. Headline figures are published under National Statistics guidelines via a press notice. Those for October 2002 were published on 27 February 2003.
A copy of the press notice, accompanying media brief and supporting tables is available on the worldwide web at www.civil-service.gov.uk/statistics. Copies of these documents are also placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
More detailed information on the civil service is published annually in 'Civil Service Statistics', copies of which are laid in the Libraries of both Houses. The last edition, based on April 2001 data, was published in June 2002. The next edition, based on April 2002 data, is due to be published at the end of July 2003.
The Cabinet Office publishes information on non-departmental public bodies in its annual publication 'Public Bodies'. The information includes details of the number of staff employed by each NDPB at 31 March each year. "Public Bodies 2002" was published in January 2003. Copies of "Public Bodies" published each year since 1997 are available in the Libraries of both Houses.
Information on staff costs for Defra and its agencies is available in the Defra departmental report and the agencies' annual reports. Information on staff costs for non-departmental public bodies is available in each body's published accounts.