§ Mr. HallTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the private employment agencies used by his Department and its agencies in each of the last three years 613W for which figures are available, indicating (a) the names of the agencies, (b) the numbers employed by the agencies in work for his Department, (c) the total cost to his Department of using employment agencies and the median cost paid to the agency per person recruited and (d) the average length of contract for persons recruited via such agencies. [16183]
Lord James Douglas HamiltonThe Scottish Office and its agencies make minimal use of private employment agencies to provide staff with particular skills at short notice. Statistics are not held centrally either on the numbers employed through private employment agencies or on the median costs.
The following tables do, however, give the figures for total expenditure in each of the last three years, along with an estimate of the average length of contract.
Private employment agencies Name Total cost for year (£) Average length of contract (weeks) 1994 ASA International Clyde Marine Hays Accountancy Personnel Office Personnel Pertemps Caledonian 53,787 4.6 1995 Accountancy Personnel Clyde Marine Hays Accountancy Pertemps Caledonian 64,962 17.75 1996 ASA International Clyde Marine Hays Accountancy Personnel Humber Shipping Services Reed Staffing Sealife Crewing Services Seamariner Ltd. Pertemps Caledonian 86,893 16.5