§ The Earl of Northeskasked Her Majesty's Government:
On a departmental basis, (a) how many staff are currently on secondment to government 150WA departments from commercial companies; (b) from which companies these secondments are drawn; and (c) what is the cost, if any, to the taxpayer of these arrangements. [HL3753]
§ The Minister of State, Cabinet Office (Lord Falconer of Thoroton)(a) The Modernising Government White Paper and Sir Richard Wilson's report to the Prime Minister on Civil Service reform made it clear that this Government are keen to promote the exchange of people and good practice between the Civil Service and other organisations. Such opportunities can take many forms, ranging from temporary secondments (lasting more than 3 months), to short term attachments (less than 3 months)— to job sharing and joint training. In the year ended 31 March 1999, there were 345 secondments from industry and commerce to the Civil Service. A breakdown of this figure by department is attached. Figures from 1 April 1999 to 31 March 2000 are not yet available.
151WA
Industry & Commerce Secondments - Inward Only Department/agency M F Total Cabinet Office 3 5 8 Charity Commission 0 0 0 COI 0 0 0 CPS 0 0 0 Crown Office 0 0 0 DCMS 0 0 0 DETR 14 3 17 DfEE 0 1 10 DfID 0 1 1 DoH 6 4 10 DSS 0 0 0 DTI 160 23 183 Employment Service 16 11 27 FCO 0 0 0 Govt. Actuary's Department 0 0 0 Govt. Office for the Regions 16 3 19 GCHQ 0 0 0 Health & Safety Executive 2 0 2 HM C&E 0 1 1 HM Land Registry 0 0 0 HM Treasury 16 5 21 Home Office 0 0 0 Inland Revenue 0 1 1 Intervention Board 0 0 0 LCD 0 1 1 Legal Sec. to Law Officers 0 0 0 MAFF 0 0 0 MOD 23 1 25 National Savings 0 0 0 NILO 0 0 0 Northern Ireland Office 0 0 0 Northern Ireland Court Service 0 0 0 OFFER 0 0 0 OFGAS 0 0 0 OFLOT 0 0 0 OFSTED 0 0 0 OFT 0 0 0 OFTEL 3 3 6 OFWAT 0 0 0 OHMCIS 0 0 0 OPRAF 0 0 0 Ordnance Survey 0 0 0 ORR 0 0 0 Privy Council Office 0 0 0 Public Record Office 0 0 0 Registers of Scotland 0 0 0 Royal Mint 0 0 0 Scottish Office 7 8 15
Industry & Commerce Secondments - Inward Only Department/agency M F Total Serious Fraud Office 0 0 0 Treasury Solicitors Dept 0 0 0 War Pensions Agency 0 0 0 Welsh Office 4 4 8 Totals 270 75 345 (b) Information as to which individual commercial companies secondees come from is not held centrally and can only be obtained at disproportional cost.
(c) It is difficult to quantify the cost to the taxpayer of any secondments as each secondment is negotiated separately. The most usual arrangement is for the secondee to continue to be paid by his or her employer, which in turn seeks reimbursement from the receiving organisation. This also applies to any civil servants being seconded out to other organisations.