Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many special advisers were appointed to assist ministers on (1) 1 January 1997, (2) 1 January 1998, (3) 1 January 2010, (4) 1 January 2011, (5) 1 January 2016, and (6) 1 December 2022.

The data relating to 1997 and 1998 pre-dates the requirement of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 (CRAG) for the Government to prepare an annual report on the numbers and costs of Special Advisers. Therefore, this information has been taken from data that is publicly available in Hansard [1]:

• In the year 1997/8, Hansard reports that there were 70 Special Advisers employed in Government.

• In the year 1998/9, Hansard reports that there were 72 Special Advisers employed in Government.

Since 2010, as per the requirements of CRAG, the Cabinet Office has published an annual report on Special Adviser numbers and costs. Therefore, the information requested in relation to 2010 - 2022 has been taken from the relevant report on Gov.uk:

• In the Annual Report on Special Advisers published in 2010, there were 61 special advisers employed in Government as at 10 June 2010. [2]

• In the Annual Report on Special Advisers published in 2011, there were 72 special advisers employed in Government as at 10 March 2011. [3]

• In the Annual Report on Special Advisers published in 2016, there were 83 Special Advisers employed in Government as at 21 December 2016. [4]

• Following the centralisation of all Special Advisers onto the Cabinet Office payroll in 2019, internal data is also available as at the requested date for 2022. As at 1 December 2022, there were 102 special advisers employed in Government.

[1] https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/1999-11-11/debates/a5ac908d-ba91-443b-81ee-0b3a84b75393/SpecialAdvisers

[2] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/62377/special-advisers-in-post-June-2010.pdf

[3] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/62374/spads-in-post100311_0.pdf

[4] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/579892/List_of_special_advisers_in_post_as_at_21_December_2016.pdf