§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list each training and tuition course with a total cost exceeding £5,000 paid for by(a) his Department and (b) his agencies during the last 12 months, showing the title and objectives of each course, the name of the organisations engaged, the total cost of each course, a summary of the responsibilities of staff members taking part and the process for course evaluation by the Department or agency.
§ Mr. HowardNo part of my Department, including its agencies, has purchased any training, tuition or course, over the past 12 months, costing more than £5,000 for a single member of staff. The immigration and nationality department purchased five courses for 73 middle and senior operational managers at a total cost of £33,000. These were provided by a mix of in-house training staff and external consultants. Evaluation is by discussion between course members and their line managers. My Department has also made considerable investment in information technology training. A total of 19 courses for 127 members of staff on information technology and computer hardware costing more than £5,000 each have been purchased by the immigration and nationality department, the police national computer data centre and the Home Office's research and planning unit. Total costs were, respectively, £26,000, £36,250 and £74,000. The overall costs are a consequence of the number of information technology staff requiring training in implementing and using new systems and software.