Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what changes have been made to the (a) numbers and (b) job types of staff employed in his Department's trade and investment hub in Northern Ireland in the last 12 months.

(a) The number of active employees attached to the Trade and Investment Hub in Northern Ireland during the previous 12 months is shown on Table 1. This is representative of active employees who are based in Norther Ireland and work for the Trade and Investment Hub, Northern Ireland. There are also employees in other teams and locations that indirectly support Trade and Investment in Northern Ireland.

DBT defines “staff employed” as Civil Servants on payroll with an active payroll assignment.

(b) All active employee records attached to the Trade and Investment Hub in Northern Ireland recorded the same job type, International Trade. This was not amended throughout the reporting period 1^st December 2023 – 1^st November 2024.

Table 1