To ask the Prime Minister how many political advisers are in post in Her Majesty's Government; in which Departments they are in post; what is the salary in each case; and what is the total salary bill of such posts.

There are currently 34 political advisers to Ministers employed in the civil service. The number in each Department is as follows:

	Number
Cabinet Office (including No. 10)	8
Defence	1
Department of the Environment	3
Foreign and Commonwealth Office	2
Department of Health	3
Her Majesty's Treasury	3
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food	1
Department of Education and Science	2
Department of Energy	1
Department of Employment	1
Home Office	2
Lord President of the Council	1
Lord Privy Seal	1
Scottish Office	1
Department of Social Security	1
Department of Trade and Industry	2
Department of Transport	1

It is not our practice to reveal the salary of any advisor as it is negotiated individually in relation to previous earnings and is therefore confidential. They are, however, normally paid on a special advisers' salary spine comprising 30 points, as follows:

Scale Point	Salary (Inclusive) £
30	57,706
29	55,486
28	53,352
27	52,104
26	50,861
25	49,271
24	47,681
23	45,509
22	43,818
21	42,135
20	40,372
19	38,595
18	36,818
17	35,048
16	32,937
15	31,595
14	30,527
13	29,464
12	28,347
11	27,328
10	26,490
9	25,316
8	24,422
7	23,627
6	22,843
5	22,042
4	20,869
3	20,155
2	19,546
1	18,403