To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the people working within her Department on secondment from the private sector, broken down by (a) the organisation or industry they came from and (b) the policy responsibilities they have been given.

The following annex details the secondees from the private sector currently working in this Department, the organisation they came from and the policy responsibilities they have been given.

The term secondee" refers to a person borrowed" from an organisation outside the civil service for a period of between three months and three years (exceptionally five years), without affecting employment status. During the secondment period the secondee remains an employee of the parent organisation but is expected to abide by the Defra Staff Handbook and the Official Secrets Act. Secondees are expected to undertake the full range of duties attached to the post. At the end of the secondment the secondee normally returns to the parent organisation.