§ Mr. WillisTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many staff were seconded from the private sector to his Department from(a) May 1997 to April 1998, (b) May 1998 to April 1999 and (c) May 1999 to the latest date for which figures are available, stating in each case the companies from which staff have been seconded. [109072]
§ Mr. LockSecondments and attachments are part of the Interchange Initiative which promotes the exchange of people and good practice between the Civil Service and other organisations. All sectors of the economy are involved: Voluntary, Education, Health, Public and Private. Interchange is a key component of the reform agenda. The Modernising Government White Paper committed us to increasing interchange, in particular by bringing in more people on secondment and sending more of our people out.
Records in this Department are only available for the periods April 1997 to March 1998 and April 1998 to March 1999. During 1997–98, we had one individual seconded from ICL to LCD Headquarters for less than three months and in 1998–99 a lawyer from Clifford Chance was seconded to the Law Commission for more than three months.