§ Lord Roberts of Conwyasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many London-based civil servants were employed in the Home Office in 1998–99; and how many are employed in the current year. [HL4395]
§ The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Scotland of Asthal)The following table provides the details of the number of London-based civil servants within the Home Office and reflects the growth caused by operational needs within the Prison Service, Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) and UK Passport Agency. In particular, additional IND caseworker capacity has been required in Croydon to handle the large increase in asylum applications and other related migration matters.
London Staff 1998–99 2003–04 Home Office—Main (inc UKPS and FSS) 5,804 12,792 Prison Service Agency 4,561 6,203 Total 10,365 18,995 Note: part-time employees are recorded according to the proportion of the full-time hours worked.
The Government remain committed to reducing the size of the Home Office headquarters by the equivalent of 2,700 posts by 2007–2008 and to transferring 2,200 posts out of London and the south-east, including planning the relocation of the National Offender Management Service headquarters to outside of London and the south-east.