The public finances are in such a desperate state that Vince Cable may soon have to be sold into private hands. Yet it seems we can still afford to recruit the people who really matter - civil servants at Chris Huhne's Department of Energy and Climate Change. Responding to a question from the Tory MP John Redwood, the department reveals that it employed 1,036 people last May but has now expanded to 1,154 - a rise of more than 11%.