Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many civil servants in her Department work primarily on policy and practice for child welfare and family justice; and how many of those civil servants work primarily on (a) adoption and (b) children in care (i) under a care order, (ii) under section 20 of the Children Act 1989 and (iii) kinship care.

There are currently 203 members of staff working in the Department’s Children’s Social Care Divisions. Within those divisions there are 27 officials working exclusively on policy relating to adoption and family law, and 31 working exclusively on policy relating to looked-after children.

The remaining 145 staff work within the following divisions: Children’s Mental Health; Innovation; Intervention; Child Protection; Social Work Reform; and Special Educational Needs. All these areas work closely, and have accountability for their policy responsibilities with regards to adoption and looked-after children.

It is not possible to identify those that work specifically on the three care settings mentioned by the Hon lady.