Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many staff in her Department and its non-departmental public body were engaged off-payroll in each of the last five years up to the most recent period for which figures are available.

Information on the number of off-payroll engagements in 2013/14 is included in DFID Annual Reporting. This information can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dfid-annual-report-and-accounts-2013-to-2014. Information on previous years can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

New tighter rules governing ‘off-payroll’ appointments in central government were established in May 2012 when the Chief Secretary to the Treasury published the Review of the Tax Arrangements of Public Sector Appointees.

The recommendations of the Review mean that the most senior staff must go on the payroll, and departments are now able to seek assurance in relation to the tax arrangements of their long-term, high paid contractors.

The Treasury has carried out two evaluations of compliance with the rules which were published on 11 March 2014 and 5 March 2015. The most recent review revealed that the large majority of central government departments are operating the rules effectively. The Treasury issued £3 million in fines in 2014 and 2015 to a small number of departments who did not fully comply with the requirements of the guidance.