Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many staff who worked in ministerial offices in his Department were from (a) the Civil Service and (b) external bodies (i) between May 2005 and May 2010 and (ii) since May 2010.

All staff employed in Ministerial private offices are employed by the civil service. This includes Special Advisers, who are employed as temporary civil servants.

Since November 2012, an independent contractor has also worked alongside the private office to provide advice to the Justice Secretary on his priority reform programmes.