To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what meetings representatives of his Department have had on the UK's potential membership of the euro in the last six months; and how many staff in his Department are engaged in work directly related to prospective membership of the euro. (248120)

There are six staff on the Department's Euro Steering Committee, which commissions work elsewhere within the Department as necessary to maintain the Department's state of readiness, in accordance with Government policy. All members of the Steering Committee undertake this work alongside their other duties. In the last six months there have been two internal meetings of officials, and one meeting with HM Treasury, on this subject

The current focus of euro preparations work across the Department is on the governance arrangements for new IT developments, to ensure that any new systems incorporate an appropriate level of euro compatibility. Due to the nature of this work, we are not able to identify the number of people engaged in the euro-related aspect of these arrangements.