Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many staff in his Department were working in the goods and tariffs team in July 2024.

The Department for Business and Trade operates a flexible resourcing model to maximise efficiency across goods and tariffs policy between the Trade Policy, Implementation and Negotiations (TPIN) Group and the Economic Security and Trade Relations (ESTR) Group. In July 2024 the combined headcount across the two groups was 1, 191 and in January 2025 it was 1, 305.

The department is unable to provide an accurate headcount figure for February 2025 until that month’s payroll run is completed, therefore January’s end month figures have been provided.