HC Deb 21 April 2004 vol 420 cc523-4W
Mr. Cousins

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which former officials of the Department have asked for permission to join(a) PricewaterhouseCoopers, (b) Deloitte & Touche, (c) Ernst and Young and (d) KPMG. [156910]

Fiona Mactaggart

The figures showing applications submitted to join the following companies, so far as information is available in the form requested, are as follows:

Company 2001 2002 2003 2004
PricewaterhouseCoopers — — 1 —
Deloitte & Touche 1 — — —
Ernst and Youne 2 — — —
KPMG — — — —
- = no comprehensive figures available.

Mr. Cousins

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what secondments(a) PricewaterhouseCoopers, (b) Deloitte & Touche, (c) Ernst & Young and (d) KPMG have made to his Department since 2001; for what (i) periods and (ii) tasks the secondments were made; whether secondments of staff from his Department have been made to those firms; and for what (A) periods and (B) tasks. [156924]

Fiona Mactaggart

Secondments are part of the Interchange initiative, which promotes the exchange of people and good practice between the Civil Service and other organizations—public, private and voluntary. Interchange provides opportunities for civil servants to learn new skills, widen their experience and develop ideas. It also brings in skills and experiences from other sectors.

Secondments of less than three months duration are not recorded. Since 2001. there have been secondments for periods of over three months to the organisations in question as follows: PricewaterhouseCoopers: none. Deloitte & Touche: one inward secondment for the period September 2003-March 2004. The secondee is managing delivery risks on the Identity Cards Programme. Ernst & Young: There have been two inward secondments:

  1. 1. June 2003-June 2004: the secondee is working as senior analyst on criminal injuries compensation policy.
  2. 2. September 2003-September 2004: the secondee is working on public perceptions of policing policy.
KPMG: one outward secondment for the period November 2002-April 2004. The member of Home Office staff is working on occupational psychology in the field of recruitment.