HC Deb 25 March 2003 vol 402 c195W
Mr. Laws

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his estimate is of the(a) cost and (b) number of employees working in (i) research analysis and information, (ii) human resources, (iii) finance and investment, (iv) corporate affairs, (v) policy and planning, (vi) the Strategy Unit and (vii) the Communications Unit of his Department for each year from 1991–92 to 2003–04 (planned); and if he will make a statement. [103705]

Mr. Lammy

It is not possible to estimate the cost and the number of employees working in the areas listed in the question because of the changes that have occurred in the make up and structure of the Department since 1991.

Figures for the cost of employees working for the Department are contained within the Departmental Report, which is published annually and available from the Library (Command Paper 5403).

Full-time equivalent numbers for staff in all civil service departments and agencies are released twice-yearly by press notice. The latest data for April 2002 was published on 31 October 2002. Copies of the annual publication are available from the Library.

The Department's Permanent Secretary has recently initiated a major change programme, with an expectation that the number of posts in the Department—excluding its agencies—will reduce by at least a third by 1 October 2004. The precise implications for the number of employees working on different functions during 2003–04 will become clearer as the programme develops.