§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many unfilled vacancies for permanent staff her Department has; what percentage of staff positions in her Department are vacant; what the monthly cost would be to her Department of employing civil servants in these positions; how many and what percentage of staff her Department employs on a temporary basis through employment agencies; how much her Department paid employment agencies to supply temporary staff in each of the last 12 months; and how much she expects to pay employment agencies to supply temporary staff in each of the next 12 months. [131439]
§ Mr. StringerThere are currently approximately 150 unfilled vacancies in my Department; this is approximately 8.5 per cent. of staff positions. The estimated monthly cost 655W of filling these vacancies, based on average salaries per grade, including ERNIC and superannuation costs, is £339,237,00.
My Department currently employs 45 temporary staff. This represents 2.5 per cent. of total staff numbers.
In each of the last 12 months the amounts paid by my Department to employment agencies were as follows:
£ July 1999 93,793.63 August 1999 114,958.87 September 1999 126,714.45 October 1999 111,927.39 November 1999 108,047.59 December 1999 81,414.78 January 2000 97,304.51 February 2000 146,355.06 March 2000 203,174.28 April 2000 65,671.40 May 2000 177,558.80 June 2000 134,168.62 Estimates of my Department's expected payments to employment agencies to supply temporary staff in each of the next 12 months are not available and could be provided only at disproportionate costs.