§ 73. Mrs. Virginia Bottomleyasked the Minister for the Civil Service how many secondments there were from the 474W Civil Service to outside organisations for the last year for which the information is available; and what was the comparable figure in 1979.
§ Mr. LuceIn 1985 there were 679 secondments out of the Civil Service of which 229 were to industry and commerce. In 1979 there were 131 secondments to industry and commerce, but no figures are held centrally about secondments to other bodies in that year.
There has been a target of 200 secondments in each direction with industry and commerce since 1977. Despite the difficulties in arranging them, I have recently agreed a new target of 250 secondments out to industry and commerce, to be achieved over the next few years. The target of 200 inward secondments remains.