HMSO (Hansard, 8 March 1996)

§ Mr. Freeman

As these questions relate purely to operational matters, I have asked the chief executive of HMSO to reply direct to the hon. Member.

Letter from Mike Lynn to Mr. Gerry Sutcliffe, dated 7 March 1996:

I have been asked by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster to reply to your four Parliamentary Questions (Nos 41–44) about job losses and redundancy payments.

374W

I am afraid it is not possible to identify precisely how many jobs have been lost in quite the way you are seeking. HMSO operates in a dynamic environment and has to react to changing market conditions. Accordingly, whilst changes in technology or customer requirements have meant that many operational jobs have been surrendered, we have at the same time needed to recruit sales and marketing staff to ensure that we can compete effectively, and we have moved some staff from support roles into the front line.

Similarly, some jobs have been lost as a result of market tests, but market testing by other Departments has enabled us to capture additional work on a Facilities Management basis, involving the transfer into HMSO of some 230 staff. The net result is that total permanent staffing has fallen from 3,220 at 1.1.90 to 2,696 at 1.3.96, and we expect a further significant decrease by the end of the year.

The total cost of redundancy payments (excluding any pay in lieu of notice, and provision for future annual compensation payments) for each year since 1990 is given below. These figures are recorded against the year in which provision was made in our Annual Accounts and in some cases the actual departures occurred in the following year. In particular, the 1995 figure includes some £8,450,000 in respect of the 1996 programme.

1990: £477,000
1991: £163,000
1992: £1,245,000
1993: £4,789,000
1994: £3,843,000
1995: £15,040,00
1996: —.