Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many and what proportion of (a) her Department's staff and (b) staff working for companies contracted by her Department who are paid less than the Living Wage are (i) white British and (ii) from an ethnic minority background.

Core Defra has no direct employees paid less than the living wage.

There are currently 4 temporary staff from employment agencies who are paid less than the UK Living Wage and employed outside London, and 3 in London paid less than the London Living Wage. These numbers can change at any time.

There are 215 people paid less than the UK Living Wage employed on 2 major contracts, arranged by the core Department and working across the network. There are 40 people working in London and paid less than the London Living Wage.

Information on the breakdown of gender and ethnicity of these people and the proportion they represent is held by the contractors and not core Defra and is only available at disproportionate cost.