To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many jobs in his Department have been relocated (a) to Liverpool and (b) elsewhere as a result of the Lyons Review; and on how many occasions Liverpool has been considered for the relocation of staff under this programme. (103692)

[holding answer 27 November 2006]: The information is as follows.

(a) No jobs from DEFRA have been relocated to Liverpool

(b) 134 posts were relocated from London and the South East by the end of the 2005-06 financial year, as reported in the 2006 annual departmental report. The breakdown of the locations to which these posts were relocated is as follows:

Further progress will be published in he departmental autumn report on 15 December 2006.

It is not possible to say how many times Liverpool has been considered for relocations under this programme