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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of staff employed by her Department are apprentices.

As of 31 December 2019, there were 72 apprentices in Defra. This is 1.4% of the total staff employed in the department.

Data regarding the number of apprentices in each Government department is published yearly as part of routine Government transparency. The most recent report was published in September last year, covering the 2018-19 financial year, and can be found on the GOV.UK website:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-apprenticeship-data-2018-to-2019