HC Deb 03 December 2001 vol 376 cc50-3W
Mr. Jack

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what criteria were used to select the Recruitment and Employment Confederation as the main negotiator for the UK employment industry. [19855]

Alan Johnson

I have met the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, which is the main representative body in the private recruitment industry, to discuss the draft conduct of employment agencies and employment businesses regulations and other issues relating to the private recruitment industry. My officials and I have also discussed these matters with a number of other representative bodies in the industry and individual recruitment companies.

Mr. Jack

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the average cost is for an information technology staffing agency to provide an IT professional to a client. [19868]

Alan Johnson

I have no estimate of the average cost to an information technology recruitment agency of providing an IT professional.

Mr. Jack

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what percentage of temporary information technology staff operate through personal service companies. [19865]

Alan Johnson

I have no estimate of the percentage of information technology temporary staff who operate through personal service companies.

Mr. Jack

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what evidence she has received that demonstrates that the quarantine period proposed in the draft of the conduct of employment agencies and employment business regulations 2001 has been set at an appropriate timescale for recruitment of information technology personnel. [19862]

Alan Johnson

The principles underlying our proposals on the quarantine periods to apply to the payment of transfer fees are in line with suggestions made by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, the private recruitment industry's principal trade association.

Mr. Jack

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she has completed a regulatory impact assessment on the proposed draft of the conduct of employment agencies and employment business regulations 2001; and if she will make a statement. [19860]

Alan Johnson

A regulatory impact assessment on the proposed new Employment Agency regulations has been produced and published on my Department's website.

Our objective in overhauling the existing regulations, which date from 1976, is simpler, clearer regulations, which are relevant to the market of today and of the future. The proposed new regulations are in many cases updated versions of existing requirements. They are designed to benefit recruitment agencies, those employed through them and hirers. They will remove unnecessary restrictions on agencies operations and the services they offer, while protecting the interests of work seekers and vulnerable groups.

Mr. Jack

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she is planning to undertake further consultation on the draft of the conduct of employment agencies and employment business regulations 2001. [19854]

Alan Johnson

I will be consulting further on the main changes we propose to the draft conduct regulations.

Mr. Jack

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) how many IT agencies operate in the UK; and what percentage of these have a turnover in excess of £2 million per annum; [19866]

(2) what information she has collated on the number of IT staffing agencies which are privately owned and managed small and medium-sized enterprises and if she will make a statement. [19867]

Alan Johnson

I do not have full details on the information requested, but the Association of Technology Staffing Companies, the body representing the IT staffing companies, estimates that there are some 2,000 companies in the sector with a total annual turnover of almost £2 billion.

Mr. Jack

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent discussions she has had with(a) representative organisations and (b) individual companies in the recruitment industry. [19858]

Alan Johnson

In recent months I have met a number of representative bodies and individual companies from the private recruitment industry to discuss the draft conduct of employment agencies and employment businesses regulations and other issues.

Mr. Jack

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) if she will list the(a) companies, (b) organisations and (c) individuals who have been invited to discuss the proposed draft of the conduct of employment agencies and employment business regulations 2001; [19852]

.(2) if she will publish the names of the (a) individuals and (b) organisations who have commented on the proposed draft of the conduct of employment agencies and employment business regulations 2001. [19857]

Alan Johnson

A list of the respondents to the last consultation exercise on the proposed draft conduct of employment agencies and employment businesses regulations has been placed in the Libraries of the House. I have also held discussions with a number of these.

Mr. Jack

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she has received representations from the IT industry about the proposed draft of the conduct of employment agencies and employment business regulations 2001; and if she will make a statement. [19859]

Alan Johnson

I received representations on the draft conduct of employment agencies and employment businesses regulations from the representative bodies, individual recruitment companies and workers within the IT industry.

Our draft conduct regulations are designed to benefit recruitment agencies, employment businesses, their clients and those seeking employment through them. They will remove unnecessary restrictions on organisations in the recruitment industry, including the IT sector, and the services they can offer, while protecting the interests of work seekers and vulnerable groups. I recognise that the IT sector plays an increasingly important role in the recruitment industry.

Mr. Jack

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1) what specific concerns prompted the review of the Employment Agencies Act 1973; [19853]

(2) if she will she make a statement on the aspects of the Employment Agencies Act 1973 which triggered a revision of the present legislation. [19863]

Alan Johnson

I have no plans to review the Employment Agencies Act 1973 at the present time. The Government consider that the existing Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 1976 do not meet the Better Regulation Taskforce's five central principles of good regulation: transparency, accountability, targeting, consistency and proportionality. Our objective in overhauling the existing legislative framework governing agency conduct, which dates from 1976, is simpler, clearer, regulations, which are relevant to the labour market of today and of the future.

Mr. Jack

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what studies have been conducted into the number of temporary employees who have taken up permanent employment in the(a) nursing, (b) secretarial, (c) information technology and (d) transport industries in the last 12 months. [19861]

Alan Johnson

The Recruitment and Employment Confederation estimates that about one fifth of temporary workers transfer to permanent employment each year. However, I have no breakdown by specific sectors.

Mr. Jack

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when she last met the Association of Technology Staffing Companies; and if she will make a statement. [19864]

Alan Johnson

Although I have met a number of bodies representing the various sectors within the private recruitment industry over recent years, I have not yet had the opportunity to meet representatives of the Association of Technology Staffing Companies (ATSCo). However, my officials have had a number of productive meetings with the ATSCo over the past year.

Mr. Jack

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry by what date she expects to lay the draft of the conduct of employment agencies and employment business regulations 2001. [19856]

Alan Johnson

I expect to lay the draft conduct regulations before Parliament early in the new year.