§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many unfilled vacancies for permanent staff his Department has; what percentage of staff positions in his Department are vacant; what the monthly cost would be to his Department of employing civil servants in these positions; how many and what percentage of staff his Department employs on a temporary basis through employment agencies; how much his Department paid employment agencies to supply temporary staff in each of the last 12 months; and how much he expects to pay employment agencies to supply temporary staff in each of the next 12 months. [131441]
§ Dr. HowellsOn 1 June 2000, some 240 temporary workers were engaged within DTI headquarters. This is equivalent to 5.7 per cent. of the number of staff in post. Information on vacant posts is not collected centrally.
In 1999–2000, around £6 million was spent on the hiring of temporary workers. It is not possible to estimate the difference in cost between permanent and temporary staff, given the wide variation in the cost of the latter. The cost of temporary workers is carried on salary cost budgets: it is not, therefore, possible to anticipate the likely expenditure on the hiring of temporary workers during the current financial year.