To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the office costs for his Department’s special advisers for 2007-08 are expected to be, including costs of support staff; and how many full-time equivalent civil servants work in support of such special advisers. (164924)

One civil servant currently supports the two special advisers in the Department for International Development (DFID); one additional civil servant is being recruited to support the special advisers from December 2007.

Individual civil servants’ salary details are not disclosed, to protect the privacy of those concerned.