§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, 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. [131430]
§ Mr. LockThe Lord Chancellor's Department Headquarters currently has 80 unfilled permanent vacancies (a percentage of 12.9). If the positions were filled permanently by civil servants it would be a monthly cost of £148,000. Headquarters currently employs 44 temporary staff from employment agencies—a percentage of 7.1 of total staff. The total spent on staff from employment agencies for the period April 1999 to March 2000 was £553,452 (VAT included). We are unable to quote the expected cost for the present year as demand constantly fluctuates.