§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home 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. [131432]
§ Mr. Mike O'Brien[holding answer 25 July 2000]Agency staff are used to fill vacancies in the short term for a variety of reasons. These could include absences due to long-term sick or maternity leave, the need to provide particular skills for a short project or to cover vacancies that are waiting to be filled from recruitment exercises. Casual appointments, normally for less than 12 months are also made for similar reasons. It would not therefore be appropriate to draw a direct relationship between the use of Agency staff and vacancies in the Home Office.
The additional posts that have been made available to tackle the Asylum backlog in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) have provided opportunities for staff throughout the Home Office. But the vast majority of these additional posts are being filled by recruitment. I am committed to filling all permanent vacancies with permanent staff as soon as possible and a wide range of recruitment exercises have been taken place and are ongoing. For example, in IND, where there is the greatest number of vacancies, 30 recruitment campaigns are taking place and staff are currently joining IND at the rate of about 300 per month. However, until the staff have been selected and are able to join the Home Office, there will be an ongoing need for some vacancies to be covered by Agency staff.
All parts of The Home Office have delegated authority to manage resources, including staff numbers within agreed cash limits. Information on the use and cost of Agency staff is not collected centrally or accounted for separately and could be provided only at disproportionate costs. The best available information is set out in the following table.
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Table 1. Staff vacancies and Agency Staff across the Home Office on 1 April Staff in Post Home Office Vacancies Total (Staff in Post and Vacancies) Vacancies as a percentage of total Home Office staff positions Agency staff Percentage of total Home Office staff positions Main Home Office 2,975 440 3,415 12.8 144 1.3 IND 6,399 3,093 9,472 32.6 100 3.2 Prison Service HQ 2,228 199 2,427 8 3— UKPA2 2,800 400 3,200 12.5 21 0.6 FSS 1,761 250 2,011 12.4 140 6.9 FSC 186 8 194 4.1 4 2 Total 16,349 4,390 20,719 413.7 309 42.8 1 As at June 2000 2 Figures as July 2000 3 Not available 4 Average