Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the total staffing was of her Department's Regions Group in (a) fiscal and (b) academic year 2023-24; and if she will make an estimate of the number of staff anticipated for 2025-26.

The average number of full-time equivalent (FTE) staff in the department’s Regions Group was 790 in the 2023/24 financial year and 825 in the 2023/24 academic year.

On 1 October 2024, 172 FTE staff along with their functions transferred into Regions Group, in advance of the planned closure of the Education and Skills Funding Agency in March 2025.

Currently, the expected number of staff in Regions Group on 1 April 2025 is 996.9 FTE.

Workforce allocations for 2025/26 have not yet been set.