To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many staff aged between 16 and 18 were employed by his Department and its predecessors (a) directly and (b) through an employment agency in each of the last 10 years; what proportion of these were given time off work to undertake some form of training; and what proportion were provided with some form of training (i) wholly and (ii) partially funded by his Department. (171274)

Information on the age of new entrants to the Department is available only from 2004 and is shown in the following table.

The other information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.