Executive Agencies (Hansard, 28 March 1995)

§ Mr. Ian Taylor

[holding answer 15 March 1995]: I have asked the chief executives of the agencies to write to the hon. Member.

Letter from John Hobday to Mr. Paul Flynn, dated 21 March 1995: I refer to your recent question to the President of the Board of Trade concerning the loss of jobs in the Department of Trade and Industry over the past two years as a result of their being taken over by contractors and subsequently disappearing. No jobs have been lost for this reason in the Accounts Services Agency.

Letter from David Durham to Mr. Paul Flynn, dated 28 March 1995: You recently tabled a Parliamentary Question regarding the loss of jobs in agencies over the past two year as a result of contracting out of work. In Companies House over the past two years there have been no jobs lost due to the employment of contractors.

Letter from Peter Joyce to Mr. Paul Flynn, dated 28 March 1995: The President of the Board of Trade has asked me to reply to your question about jobs which have been lost in The Insolvency Service in the past two years. One post has been lost as a result of work being taken over by a contractor. Forty five posts have been saved through the introduction of a computerised local office information system in The Service's Official Receivers' offices (with a further forty five posts to be saved in 1995–96). Adjustments have been made in the grading of a small number of posts to reflect changing requirements of The Service's work.

Letter from R. D. Worswick to Mr. Paul Flynn, dated 28 March 1995: The President of the Board of Trade has asked me to reply for the Laboratory of the Government Chemist to your question about jobs lost at Agencies in the DTI during the last two years. The number of posts in LGC has reduced by 42 since 1 April 1993, of which less than half can be attributed to having been lost due to market tests by customers in Government. During this period, however, LGC has been successful in winning work in other areas.

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Letter from W. Edgar to Mr. Paul Flynn, dated 28 March 1995: I would refer to your Parliamentary Question to the President to the Board of Trade concerning the number of jobs in this agency in the past two years which have been taken over by contractors or have disappeared. The only jobs which have been taken over by contractors are those associated with the reprographics unit, this resulted in the loss of 4 jobs. During the period from 1 April 1993 to the present time the reduction in staff numbers, in addition to those lost in the reprographic section has been 126. These staff reductions were found to be necessary to tailor the size of the organisation to match the market demand for our services.

Letter from Dr. Peter Clapham to Mr. Paul Flynn, dated 28 March 1995: The President of the Board of Trade has asked me to reply to your question about jobs lost to agencies in DTI in the past two years. This reply concerns my Agency, the National Physical Laboratory (NPL). The number of staff in NPL has reduced from 786 on 1 March 1993 to 666 on 1 March 1995. Over the same period the number of casual employees has increased from 18 to 54 and the Laboratory also currently uses 29 agency or other staff whereas the number was about 10 two years ago. Therefore some 65 posts have been lost in the last two years. I trust this provides the information you require.

Letter from Seton Bennett to Mr. Paul Flynn, dated 28 March 1995: The President of the Board of Trade has asked me to reply on behalf of the National Weights and Measures Laboratory to your question about jobs lost to Agencies in DTI during the last two years. No job in this Agency has been taken over by contractors in this period, although the number of posts in NWML has been reduced from 48 on 1 April 1993 to 46 on the same date this year.

Letter from P.R.S. Harntack to Mr. Paul Flynn, dated 28 March 1995: I have been asked to reply (with respect to the Patent Office) to a question—number 94—which you recently tabled in The House. Overall numbers in the Patent Office declined from 1,073 end of February 1993 to 964 at end February this year, so 109 posts have disappeared. These totals include staff not directly employed by the Office, but provided through clerical and IT manpower agencies. Their numbers increased from 53 to 76, so an additional 23 jobs have been 'contracted out'. No other work has been taken over by contractors during this period. I hope that this is helpful.

Letter from Jim Norton to Mr. Paul Flynn, dated 28 March 1995: As you know, I have been asked to answer, in relation to the Radiocommunications Agency, your question to the President of the Board of Trade about jobs lost to agencies in the past two years that have (a) been taken over by contractors and (b) disappeared. On 31 March 1993, the Agency had a complement of 565 with 524.5 staff in post. The comparable figures on 31 March 1994 were 580 and 534 respectively. At the present time, RA has a complement of 582 and 552.5 staff in post. During the period, following market testing, ships' radio licensing is being contracted out with effect from 1 April 1995 with the loss of 6 Agency posts. I should emphasise that the Agency has succeeded in meeting demanding efficiency targets set by Ministers in each of the years in question. The figures reflect strongly growing demand for all the Agency's services and also delegations of management, IT and personnel functions from the Department. Within the overall totals, posts have been moved in the Agency in response to changes in patterns of workload and in the interests of efficiency and customer service. For example, the licensing of private mobile radio has been decentralised from the Agency's headquarters to its local offices, which has improved service and been much appreciated by customers. I hope this information is helpful to you.