HC Deb 19 February 1997 vol 290 cc639-52W
Mr. Hall

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the private employment agencies used by his Department and its agencies in each of the last three years 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. [16175]

Mr. Arbuthnot

The information on employment agencies used by MOD is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. It is my Department's policy to use agencies on the following circumstances: to provide staff as an interim measure where directly employed labour cannot be provided; to assist recruitment authorities on all or part of the recruitment selection process, but most recruitment is undertaken in house.

Information, where available, in respect of defence agencies is a matter for the chief executive concerned, who will be writing to the hon. Member separately.

Letter from C. A. Gordon to Mr. Mike Hall, dated 19 February 1997: I am replying to your Question to the Secretary of State for Defence about the use of private employment agencies, as this matter falls within my area of responsibility as the Deputy Chief Executive of the Army Individual Training Organisation. This Agency came into being on 1 April 1996 and I am therefore quoting figures from that date. Details of this Agency's use of private employment agencies are listed below:

Letter from Mr. S. R. Hill to Mr. Mike Hall, dated 19 February 1997: 1. I am replying to your Question to the Secretary of State for Defence about the use of employment agencies as this matter falls within my area of responsibility as Chief Executive of the Naval Aircraft Repair Organisation (NARO). 2. Attached is a summary of the statistics for this Agency. Parliamentary Question no 3243H—Agency Staff

1. Agencies used in the last 3 years are:

  • Barker Personnel Services
  • Brook Street
  • J M Recruitment
  • Wise Employment

2. Numbers employed by the Agencies in NARO Fleetlands Division:

  • Barker Personnel Services: 1
  • Brook Street: 2
  • J M Recruitment: 6
  • Wise Employment: 1

3. Costs over the last 3 years are:

Agency 1994–95£ 1995–96£ 1996–97£ Median cost (total cost divided by number of people£
Barker Personnel Services 13,500 15,500 18,000 15,666
Brook Street nil 3,000 9,000 3,000
J M Recruitment nil nil 12,000 2,000
Wise Employment Nil nil 200 200

4. The average length of contracts is as follows:

  • Barker Personnel Services: 1 year
  • Brook Street: 5 months
  • J M Recruitment: 1 month
  • Wise Employment: 1 week

Letter from J. R. Drew to Mr. Mike Hall, dated 19 February 1997: I am replying to your Question to the Secretary of State for Defence asking him to list the private employment agencies used by the department and its agencies in each of the last three years. For the Army Base Repair Organisation (ABRO) this matter falls within my responsibilities as Chief Executive. I have enclosed the details you requested on a separate sheet. It should be noted that the number of staff engaged through employment agencies was unusually high in 1995–96 and 1996–97 because of the need temporarily to replace vital skills lost during the rundown of ABRO Old Dalby, which closed at the end of December 1996.

ABRO: Use of employment agencies
a. Agencies used1 b. Numbers of posts filled c. Cost2£
1994–95
Turner Charles Ltd., Staff UK, British Nursing Corporation 5 96,955
1995–96
Turner Charles Ltd., Staff UK, British Nursing Corporation, Kelly Services, Matchmaker Personnel 30 205,514
1996–97

ABRO: Use of employment agencies
a. Agencies used1 b. Numbers of posts filled c. Cost2£
Turner Charles Ltd., Omega Personnel, Dargue Staff, Select Appointments, Partners Employment, Mitrem Employment Service, Personnel Placements, British Nursing Co-op Ltd., Kelly Services, Matchmaker Personnel 37 210,117
The average length of contract is 1 year 4 months.
1 The individual fees for companies are not given as they are commercially confidential.
2 It is not clear what is meant by the median cost paid to the employment agency. The employment agencies are paid an hourly rate for staff supplied.

Letter from Paul Altobell to Mr. Mike Hall, dated 19 February 1997: I am replying to your question to the Secretary of State for Defence about dealings with private employment agencies over the past three years as this matter falls within my area of responsibility as Chief Executive of the Defence Analytical Services Agency. We make only limited use of contract staff from private employment agencies, usually to deal with surges in our workload. Unfortunately, our records are not kept in a form which would permit a precise answer to your question without incurring undue expense. However, I hope the following information will meet your needs:

Agency Total expenditure £
1994–951
Manpower 32,300.64
Josephine Sammons 4,347.93
Total cost for year 36,648.57
1995–962
Manpower 30,630.98
Josephine Sammons 2,533.86
Total cost for year 33,164.84
1996–973
Manpower 13,603.88
JM Recruitment 3,639.34
Total cost for year 17,243.22
1 Approximately four people were recruited during the year with an estimated median cost per week of £230.
2 Approximately eight people were recruited during the year with an estimated median cost per week of £230.
3 Approximately six people were recruited during the year with an estimated median cost per week of £250.

Letter from Julian Hunt to Mr. Mike Hall, dated 19 February 1997: I am replying to your Question to the Secretary of State for Defence about staff supplied by private employment agencies, as this falls within my area of responsibility as Chief Executive of the Meteorological Office. The Meteorological Office use agencies only rarely and the information you requested is given below: 1996

  1. (a) Manpower
    • Josephine Sammons Employment Agency
    • Hays Accountancy Personnel
  2. (b) 8
    3. 643
  3. (c) £40,800 median £425 per week
  4. (d) 112 weeks

1995

  1. (a) Manpower
  2. (b) 2
  3. (c) £9,120
  4. (d) 3 months

1994

  • Nil
  • I hope this gives you the information you require.

Letter from John Trewby to Mr. Mike Hall, dated 18 February 1997: I am replying as the Chief Executive of the Naval Bases and Supply Agency to your question to the Minister of State for Defence Procurement about private employment agencies. The Naval Bases and Supply Agency launched in December 1996 and is formed from a number of management areas within the MOD. Information such as you have requested was not previously held on a consistent basis, the attached charts give the information which is available.

Private employment agencies used by NBSA
1994–95 1995–96 1996–97
J. M. Recruitment
Number of staff employed 14 19 21
Total cost to the NBSA £16,176 £81,373 £63,211
Median cost per person £1,155 £4,282 £3,010
Average length of contract 1 month 4 months 3 months
Manpower
Number of staff employed 1 3 1
Total cost to the NBSA £884 £13,200 £7,263
Median cost per person £884 £4,400 £7,263
Average length of contract 3 weeks 4 months 6 months
Brook Street
Number of staff employed 1 nil nil
Total cost to the NBSA £162 nil nil
Median cost per person nil nil nil
Average length of contract 1 week nil nil
SMS
Number of staff employed 95 100 139
Total cost to the NBSA £40,150 £42,485 £68,932
Median cost per person £432 £425 £496
Average length of contract 2 weeks 2 weeks 2 weeks
Crown Nursing Agency
Number of staff employed nil nil 5
Total cost to the NBSA nil nil £7,712
Median cost per person nil nil £1,542
Average length of contract nil nil 3 days
TAV
Number of staff employed nil 3 nil
Total cost to the NBSA nil £12,320 nil
Median cost per person nil £4,106 nil
Average length of contract nil 4 months nil
HMS
Number of staff employed nil 3 nil
Total cost to the NBSA nil £14,960 nil
Median cost per person nil £4,987 nil
Average length of contract nil 4 months nil
Ross Campbell Associates
Number of staff employed 1 1 4
Total cost to the NBSA £2,000 £6,950 £21,250
Median cost per person £2,000 £6,950 £5,312
Average length of contract 8 weeks 30 weeks 16 weeks
Search Recruitment
Selection
Number of staff employed nil nil 3
Total cost to the NBSA nil nil £12,800

Private employment agencies used by NBSA
1994–95 1995–96 1996–97
Median cost per person nil nil £4,254
Average length of contract nil nil 14 weeks
South Hams Nursing
Number of staff employed nil nil 3
Total cost to the NBSA nil nil £10,680
Median cost per person nil nil £3,560
Average length of contract nil nil 3 months
Drake International
Number of staff employed nil nil 15
Total cost to the NBSA nil nil £32,400
Median cost per person nil nil £2,160
Average length of contract nil nil 4 months
AYS
Number of staff employed 45 75 83
Total cost to the NBSA £83,830 £147,790 £289,010
Median cost per person £1,863 £1,970 £3,482
Average length of contract 3 months 4 months 6 months
Alfred Marks
Number of staff employed 92 88 97
Total cost to the NBSA £141,790 £206,300 £319,200
Median cost per person £1,541 £2,344 £3,290
Average length of contract 3 months 4 months 6 months
Saltash Transport
Number of staff employed nil nil 216
Total cost to the NBSA nil nil £16,790
Median cost per person nil nil £77
Average length of contract nil nil 3 days
Ross Campbell Consultants
Number of staff employed Not available 2 3
Total cost to the NBSA Not available £2,900 £1,879
Median cost per person Not available £1,450 £626
Average length of contract Not available 5 weeks 2 weeks
Search Consultants
Number of staff employed Not available 7 3
Total cost to the NBSA Not available £10,997 £6,237
Median cost per person Not available £1,571 £2,079
Average length of contract Not available 2 months 2 months
Fife Nursing Services Ltd.
Number of staff employed Not available 4 7
Total cost to the NBSA Not available £2,303 £3,246
Median cost per person Not available £575 £463
Average length of contract Not available 1 week 1 week
Office Helpline
Number of staff employed nil 5 14
Total cost to the NBSA nil £13,339 £44,410
Median cost per person nil £2,667 £3,172
Average length of contract nil 10 weeks 19 weeks
Workforce
Number of staff employed nil 27 32
Total cost to the NBSA nil £71,398 £79,459
Median cost per person nil £2,644 £2,483
Average length of contract nil 10 weeks 19 weeks
Kellock
Number of staff employed nil nil 1
Total cost to the NBSA nil nil £6,242
Median cost per person nil nil £6,242
Average length of contract nil nil 10 weeks
Reed Staffing
Number of staff employed nil nil 1
Total cost to the NBSA nil nil £16,029
Median cost per person nil nil £16,029
Average length of contract nil nil 20 weeks
Medic International
Number of staff employed nil nil 1
Total cost to the NBSA nil nil £6,900
Median cost per person nil nil £6,900
Average length of contract nil nil 20 weeks

Private employment agencies used by NBSA
1994–95 1995–96 1996–97
CSOHS Agency
Number of staff employed nil nil 1
Total cost to the NBSA nil nil £21,538
Median cost per person nil nil £21,538
Average length of contract nil nil 23 sessions (medical practitioner)

Letter from Graham Jones to Mr. Mike Hall, dated 19 February 1997: I am replying to your Question to the Secretary of State for Defence about the use of private employment agencies, by his Department and its agencies, in each of the last three years for which figures are available, as these matters fall within my responsibility as Chief Executive of the Royal Air Force Signals Engineering Establishment Defence Agency. Specifically, you asked for: the names of the agencies; the numbers employed by the agencies in work for his Department; the total cost to the Department of using employment agencies; the median cost paid to the agency per person recruited; and the average length of contract for persons recruited via such agencies. During the last 3 years the Royal Air Force Signals Engineering Establishment has used 5 private employment agencies—Piper Group Ltd, RSD Technology Ltd, Turner Charles Ltd, Inter Europe Technical Services Ltd, Escom Technical Services—to provide professional engineering staff to fill vacancies in the personnel establishment until full-time civil servants are recruited. In 1994 these agencies supplied 38 personnel on an average contract length of 8½ months. The total cost was £957,486, with a median cost per agency of:

  • Piper Group Ltd: £26,274
  • RSD Technology Ltd: £25,636.
  • Turner Charles Ltd: £30,856.

Employment agencies used by the RAF MGDA
Agency name 1994–95 £ 1995–96 £ 1996–97 £ Total cost £ Numbers employed Average length of contract (where known)
Michael Page 39,250 70,819 23,521 133,590 2 —
Doyle Clutton 56,055 50,969 0 107,024 4 2 years
Accountancy Personnel 0 0 27,642 27,642 1 2 years
Read Catering 0 0 48,447 48,447 Average 2 —
Paul Mitchell Associates (Leicester) 6,063 8,470 0 14,533 1 5 months
ACI (Huntington) 0 1,855 0 1,855 1 11 months
BNA (Peterborough) 0 47 1,173 1,820 1 —
Golden Key (Stamford) 0 0 962 962 1 —
Blue Arrow Personnel Services 0 0 28,154 28,154 1 8 months
Hayes Accountancy Personnel 0 54,027 41,572 95,599 3 12 months
Wynnwith Eng. Ltd. 0 1307,000 1,500 308,500 not available —
ORS Recruitment 0 0 9,000 9,000 1 6 months 18 months
MPI Aviation Ltd.1 o 0 717,670 717,670 Average 53 call-off contract
MPI Aviation Ltd. 0 0 23,520 23,520 4 4 months
Total cost 101,368 493,187 923,761
1This relates to the provision of agency manpower to meat fluctuating task levels.

Letter from Peter Foxton to Mr. Mike Hall, dated 19 February 1997: I am replying to the recent questions you tabled to the Secretary of State for Defence for those matters that fall within my area of responsibility as Chief Executive of the Army Base Supply and Distribution Agency (ABSDA). You asked about the use being made of private employment agencies to recruit staff for employment within Defence Agencies, ABSDA has only been in existence since

  • Inter Europe Technical Services Ltd: £7,596.

In 1995 these agencies supplied 52 personnel on an average contract length of 8¾ months. The total cost was £1,003,425, with a median cost per agency of:

  • Piper Group Ltd: £26,641.
  • RSD Technology Ltd: £25,996.
  • Turner Charles Ltd: £11,412.
  • Inter Europe Technical Services Ltd: £2,809.
  • Escom Technical Services: £6,364.

In 1996 these agencies supplied 58 personnel on an average contract length of 7.45 months. The total cost was £1,310,206, with a median cost per agency of:

  • Piper Group Ltd: £28,781.
  • RSD Technology Ltd: £29,722.
  • Turner Charles Ltd: £19,896.
  • Inter Europe Technical Services Ltd: £11,711.
  • Escom Technical Services: £24,877.

Letter from Richard Kyle to Mr. Mike Hall, dated 19 February 1997: PRIVATE EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES USED BY THE ROYAL AIR FORCE MAINTENANCE GROUP DEFENCE AGENCY I am replying to your question to the Secretary of State for Defence concerning private employment agencies used by his Department's Agencies because this matter falls within my area of responsibility as Chief Executive of the Royal Air Force Maintenance Group Defence Agency. The information readily available is given in the table at Annex A. As a number of the agency staffs are provided through call-off contract arrangements to cover manpower shortages or peak production periods, the information on median costs and contract periods for individual staff cannot easily be discerned, and is therefore not provided.

April 1995 and in that time there has only been one occasion where private employment agencies have been requested to recruit staff, and that was in 1996. The Occupational Health and Safety Bureau was tasked to provide a Grade E Nurse as a temporary measure due to difficulties in recruiting full time personnel. Recruitment and Assessment Services (RAS), a government agency, were requested in August 1996 to seek candidates for the position of Chief Executive of ABSDA on the retirement of the incumbent. Between the selection procedure and my appointment RAS were privatised. Therefore, you may wish to consider RAS a private employment agency. The total cost, for both appointments, was £30,289. The length of contract was four months for the Nurse and three years for my tenure of office. I trust I have answered your questions satisfactorily.

Letter from D. L. Burden to Mr. Mike Hall, dated 19 February 1997: I am replying to your question to the Secretary of State for Defence about the use of private employment agencies by the Ministry of Defence and its Agencies, in so far as it applies to the Army Personnel Centre as this matter falls within my area of responsibility as Chief Executive of that Agency. I should explain that the Army Personnel Centre (APC) formed as an agency on 2 December 1996 and received delegated personnel management responsibility for civilian staff in the APC in Glasgow from 9 December 1996. I can confirm that the APC in Glasgow has not engaged private employment agency staff. In addition to the staff employed in the APC at Glasgow I also have residual responsibility for staff at a number of sites in England currently involved in APC business. For the provision of civilian staff at Directorate of 'A' Information Systems (Army), Worthy Down, the now vacated sties (Earls Court and Stanmore) in London and the closing sites (Ashton-Under-Lyne, Leicester, Chester, York and Exeter) in England, I was and remain reliant on the respective Civilian Personnel Management Authorities (CPMAs) responsible for recruitment and management of staff within those areas. I envisage that the individual CPMAs will submit responses for collation centrally and, to avoid the risk of duplication, the data on private employment agency staff who have been employed to support the business of the APC at the closing sites would be incorporated into the MOD—collated return. I hope this is helpful.

Letter from John Prince to Mr. Mike Hall, dated 19 February 1997: I am replying to your question to the Secretary of State for Defence about the use of private employment agencies, as this matter falls within my area of responsibility as Chief Executive of the Army Technical Support Agency (ATSA). ATSA launched in October 1995 and, to date, have used 2 private employment agencies, as follows:

Agency Number of employed Total cost£ Contract length
October 1995 to March 1996
Job Spot 1 2,800 8 weeks
April 1996 to February 1997
Job Spot 1 23,500 44 weeks
List Design Group 1 7,800 20 weeks

Letter from John Chisholm to Mr. Mike Hall, dated 19 February 1997: Your recent question asked for information about private employment agencies used by the Ministry of Defence and its Agencies including numbers of staff employed from employment agencies, the cost of staff thus employed and the cost paid to the agency and contract duration. I am replying on behalf of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA). I am afraid that this information is not held centrally in DERA as all our business sectors are empowered to recruit their own staff. The information you request could therefore only be collected at disproportionate cost. All recruitment of permanent staff in DERA is through fair and open competition in accordance with Civil Service procedures. Where private employment agencies are used it is either to complement other methods of advertising for staff or to meet short term temporary requirement. I am sorry I cannot be more helpful on this occasion.

Letter from T. McG. Brown to Mr. Mike Hall, dated 19 February 1997: I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Defence, the Rt. Hon Michael Portillo MP, regarding the use of private employment agencies within the MOD. As Chief Executive of the Defence Postal and Courier Services Agency (DPCSA) I am responsible for recruitment and employment of staff within my Agency and I am therefore providing the details you have requested in respect of my Agency. The four employment agencies shown below have supplied temporary staff to DPCSA during the period from 1st January 1994 to 31st December 1996. The total number of staff used from each agency during this period, the average length of contract, the cost per hour (inclusive of VAT) and the type of employee supplied is also shown.

Number supplied Contract period Cost (£/hour) Employee type
Bond
Accountancy 1 3 months 20 Accountant
Hays
Accountancy
Personnel 1 5 months 25 Accountant
Manpower plc 32 4 days 7–8 Drivers
Josephine
Sammons
Limited 10 4 months 7–8 Clerical staff

The overall cost of using these staff is not separately identified. However most of these staff were used during 1996/97 and current expenditure on temporary staff is approximately £45,000 per year. The overall cost of employing temporary staff is comparable with the cost of equivalent permanent staff. The agencies listed above are used to recruit temporary staff on a short term basis while permanent staff are being recruited. All permanent staff are recruited from other areas of the MOD or directly by DPCSA via press advertisements, which are also sent to local Job Centres. No permanent staff are recruited from private employment agencies. I hope this information is helpful.

Letter from Ron Smith to Mr. Mike Hall, dated 19 February 1997: I am replying to your Question to the Secretary of State for Defence about the use of private employment agencies by Defence Agencies as this matter, in respect of the Defence Secondary Care Agency (DSCA), falls within my area of responsibility as Chief Executive of the DSCA. I regret, that the information requested, is not held in the form requested and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Letter from Alan Bush to Mr. Mike Hall, dated 19 February 1997: I am replying to your Question to the Secretary of State for Defence, about the use of private employment agencies, as this matter falls within my area of responsibility as Acting Chief Executive of the Defence Transport and Movements Executive Agency (DTMX). A private employment agency has been used only once by DTMX in the last 3 years. We employed the Recruitment and Assessment Services, Basingstoke, at a total cost of £14,822, to engage direct from Industry the Commercial Business Adviser to DTMX. The individual concerned is employed on a contract of 2 years duration.

Letter from Malcolm Westgate to Mr. Mike Hall, dated 19 February 1997: I am replying to your Question to the Secretary of State for Defence about the use of private employment agencies. This matter falls to me as Chief Executive of the Disposal Sales Agency. My organisation acquired Agency status in October 1994. The information you seek is given below, for the period October 1994 to December 1996.

  1. 1. Names of agencies used, and numbers employed by each agency in each year.
    2. 1994 1995 1996
    Josephine Sammons 3 3 4
    Manpower Services 1 1 0
    Alfred Marks Western Systems 1 1 1
  2. 2. Cost of using employment agencies.
    • 1994: £14,414.67
    • 1995: £47,743.20
    • 1996: £35,278.96
  3. 3. The median cost per person recruited was £264.
  4. 4. The length of the contracts ranged from 2 weeks to 2 years. The average length was 8 months.

Letter from John Clarke to Mr. Mike Hall, dated 19 February 1997: You recently asked the Secretary of State for Defence a Parliamentary Question relating to the use by the MOD and its Agencies of private employment agencies in each of the last 3 years. As this matter falls within my area of responsibility as Chief Executive of the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office I have been asked to reply to you. No private employment agencies were used in the years 1994 and 1995. On 1st April 1996 the UK Hydrographic Agency became a Trading Fund Agency solely reliant for its funding on revenue from the sale of its products and services. It was therefore necessary to build up very rapidly a more commercial awareness in the Agency and for that reason a number of Interim Managers were employed through private employment agencies. In addition, one agency supplied a temporary employee to cover for short term absence. Details of these are:

Agency name Numbers employed Median cost per person recruited £
Ashton Penney 3 58,044
Barton Interim Management 1 92,277
Parity Solutions 1 12,740
Eurolink Group plc 1 9,800
Western Staff Services 1 472.11
Harrison Willis Ltd. 1 26,892.53

The total cost to the UK Hydrographic Agency of using employment agencies in 1996 was £316,315.64p. This amount included charges in respect of salaries paid to the recruits by the agencies but does not include VAT. The average length of contract was 19.4 weeks. I hope this information has been helpful.

Letter from Gordon Wilson to Mr. Mike Hall, dated 19 February 1997: I am replying to your Question to the Secretary of State for Defence concerning the use of private employment agencies. The information you require in respect of this Agency is as follows:

Agency Numbers employed Cost £ Average cost per employee Average length of contract
1993–94
ACE
Recruitment 1 2,375 2,375 15 weeks
BNA 1 553 553 2 weeks
CMS Employment 1 825 825 6 weeks
Barclays Comm Svcs 1 1,795 1,795 12 weeks
5,548
1994–95
BNA 1 1,314 1,314 5 weeks
CMS Employment 1 1,361 1,361 12 weeks
Byers Exec Svcs 1 288 288 2 weeks
Night Force 1 141 141 2 days
3,104
1995–96
BNA 1 8,295 8,295 22 weeks
Night Force 1 183 183 2 days
8,478

Letter from Alan Pollard to Mr. Mike Hall, dated 19 February 1997: I am replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Defence about use of private employment agencies. As Chief Executive, this falls within my area of responsibility for the Logistic Information Systems Agency (LISA). The Agency was formed in November 1994 and assumed full responsibility for personnel recruitment in April 1996. During 1996, the Agency incurred expenditure of £830.76 + VAT to the Paterson Recruitment Agency of Bicester in recruiting one Administrative Assistant on a permanent basis. In recent weeks I have authorised expenditure amounting to £33763.62 to the Recruitment & Assessment Services for the coordination of a campaign to recruit up to 60 Higher Executive Officers and Executive Officers on a permanent basis. The recruitment process is ongoing with results yet to be promulgated. Should you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Letter from Stephen Campion to Mr. Mike Hall, dated 19 February 1997: I am replying to your Question to the Secretary of State for Defence about the use of private employment agencies as this matter falls within the area of responsibility of the Chief Executive of the Medical Supplies Agency, who is currently away from the office on official duties. The answers to your questions are that since the Agency was established in March 1996:

  1. (a) No permanent staff have been recruited through private employment services.
  2. (b) A total of 4 industrial and 6 non-industrial casual staff have been recruited through one private agency.
  3. (c) The costs of (b) above are £82,586.47 with the median cost paid to the agency being approximately £8,300.
  4. (d) The average casual/temporary contract for these staff is 3 months (industrial) and 6 months (non-industrial).

Letter from Philip Wildman to Mr. Mike Hall, dated 19 February 1997: I am replying to your Question to the Secretary of State for Defence about private employment agencies used by his Department and its agencies as this matter falls within my area of responsibility as Chief Executive of Military Survey Agency. The breakdown of the employment agencies and the costs are below. The median cost paid to each agency per person recruited in 1996–97 is £31,480 with an average length of contract of one year.

Ser 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 Numbers 1996–97
1. Reed Staffing Reed Staffing Reed Staffing 3.5
2. 1Forward 1MTS 1Forward 50
3. Corporate Recruitment Corporate Services Recruitment Corporate Services
4. Services Group Group Manpower Group Manpower
5. plc plc 1
6. F I Recruitment 1
7. Alfred Marks
8. Pertemp
9. £623,460 £673,230 £699,596 55.5
1MTS, Forward recruitment and Corporate Services Group are now one company. Figures include part-time contract staff.

Letter from Walter Boreham to Mr. Mike Hall, dated 19 February 1997: I am replying to your Question to the Secretary of State for Defence about private employment agencies, as this falls into my area of responsibility as Chief Constable/Chief Executive of the Ministry of Defence Police Agency. During the last three financial years I have used Belle Personnel, Key Personnel, Manpower Plc and Josephine Salmons employment agencies, who provided a total of 8 persons, at a cost of some £51,000. I do not use the services of employment agencies to recruit permanent staff but rather to provide personnel to fill short term vacancies.

Letter from John McAnally to Mr. Mike Hall, dated 19 February 1997: The Secretary of State for Defence has asked me to reply to your Parliamentary Question, about the use of employment agencies in each of the past three years, in my capacity as Chief Executive of the Naval Recruiting and Training Agency (NRTA). I am afraid that it is not possible to provide you with the information in the format requested. The NRTA was created from the Flag Officer Training and Recruiting (FOTR) Command area on 1 April 1995 and, therefore, has not been in existence for three years, however, the following information has been compiled from the combined FOTR and NRTA use of employment agencies since 1994:

  1. (a) Agencies Used:
    1. South Hams Nursing Agency
    2. Crown Nursing Agency
    3. Personnel Selection
    4. Primary Management
    5. Alfred Marks
    6. AYS Recruitment Agency
    7. Manpower plc
    8. Office Angels
  2. (b) Total Number of Personnel Employed: 92
  3. (c) Total Cost: £172,908 (Median Cost Per Person: £407.17)
  4. (d) Average Length of Contract:½months.
You may be interested to note that, wherever possible, a competitive tendering process is used to identify the most cost-effective employment agency. In cases where there may be an ongoing requirement for agency personnel (e.g., Nurses), the negotiation of a longer term contract (say, for three years) is likely to result in more competitive prices than would be the case in ad hoc arrangements. I hope that this is helpful.

Letter from A. J. Stables to Mr. Mike Hall, dated 19 February 1997: I am replying to your Question to the Secretary of State for Defence about the use of private employment agencies, as this matter falls within my area of responsibility as Chief Executive of the Royal Air Force Training Group Defence Agency. The names of the agencies which have ben used are as follows:

  • Alfred Marks
  • Anaesthetists Agency
  • Angela Shaw Associates
  • Beaver Employment
  • Blue Arrow Catering Services
  • Brook Street Bureau plc
  • Defcon Security Services
  • Gibson Oliff Recruitment
  • Hamlin Nursing Agency
  • Hayes Accountancy Personnel
  • Jenrick Ltd.
  • Pertemps
  • Toner Graham
  • Travail

The total number of private agency staff employed over the last 3 years was 109; 29 of them were employed during financial year 1994–95, 32 in 1995–96 and 48 in 1996–97. The costs during these years were approximately £102K, £132.5K and £147.7K respectively; a total of £382.2K over the period. The median cost paid to the agencies per employee was approximately £3.5K. As far as can be determined from the information available, the average length of contract per person was just over 7.5 weeks.

I am sending a copy of this letter to my Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief.

Letter from Roger Babington to Mr. Mike Hall, dated 19 February 1997: I am replying in part to your question to the Secretary of State for Defence about the use of private employment agencies, as this is related to my area of responsibility as Chief Executive of the Ships Support Agency. The Ships Support Agency was launched on 11 December 1996 and since that time has used two employment agencies, the details of which are provided below:

  1. 1.
    1. (a) Ross Campbell Consultants Limited
    2. (b) Two people employed
    3. (c) Total cost £3,552, cost per employee £1,776
    4. (d) Average contract length of employees ten months
  2. 2.
    1. (a) Alfred Marks (At Your Service)
    2. (b) Three people employed
    3. (c) Total cost £8,086, cost per employee £2,695
    4. (d) Average contract length of employees 5.5 months
(The cost per employee is the exact cost to the Department and not the median).