§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 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. [131429]
§ Mr. MandelsonThe NIO currently has:
- (a) 34 unfilled vacancies for permanent staff;
- (b) 2 per cent. of staff positions are vacant;
- (c) the monthly cost of employing civil servants in these positions would be £59,000;
- (d) five staff are employed on a temporary basis through employment agencies;
- (e) 0.3 per cent. of staff are employed on a temporary basis through employment agencies;
- (f) the amount paid to employment agencies to supply temporary staff in each of the last 12 months was:
571W
£000 July 1999 6.3 August 1999 7.1 September 1999 2.4 October 1999 5.0 November 1999 6.9 December 1999 4.9 January 2000 5.5 February 2000 8.5 March 2000 8.1
£000 April 2000 2.6 May 2000 8.6 June 2000 5.7 (g) it is impossible to anticipate future months spend due to fluctuating requirements but is unlikely to be in excess of last year's figure.