asked Her Majesty's Government:

In the case of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many (a) voluntary and (b) compulsory redundancies have been taken to date as a result of the Gershon review, what is the total departmental bill for each type of redundancy; and what is the natural wastage during the Gershon period to date for the department.[HL989]

From 1 April 2004 to 30 November 2007, 764 voluntary redundancies and 22 compulsory redundancies have taken place.

The cost to the department of these is calculated as £59.7 million for the voluntary redundancies and £405,000 for the compulsory redundancies.

Over the same period, loss of staff from the department through natural wastage is calculated at 2,779.