To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many people over the age of 55 years have been recruited into his Department in each of the last three years. (77273)

The number of people over the age of 55 recruited into DEFRA, the Government Decontamination Service, the Marine Fisheries Agency, the Pesticides Safety Directorate, the State Veterinary Service, the Veterinary Laboratories Agency and the Veterinary Medicines Directorate in the each of the last three calendar years was as follows: