---

Home Office

Answer

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost to his Department was of employing staff in (a) London and (b) the south-east from employment agencies in each year since 1997. [56510] Beverley Hughes: [holding answer 16 May 2002]: Detailed breakdowns of costs of employment agency staff by region are not held centrally nor captured by the Department's accounting systems. Data are recorded under broad expenditure headings. Further detail could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The Department's policy is that staff from agencies may be employed to provide short-term cover for vacancies while permanent staff are recruited. The recorded expenditure on agency staff by the core Home Office is shown in the table: £000 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Year Expenditure 1997-98 298 1998-99 466 1999-2000 1,189 2000-01 3,014 2001-02 6,641 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. The increase since 1999 is mainly due to the expansion of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) in response to the increased numbers of asylum seekers. Agency staff were employed until long-term recruitment plans were implemented, enabling us to drive home the backlog and speed up the time taken for vital decisions.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

387 c962W;387 c959-60W; 56510

Session

2001-02

Subjects

Costs Greater London Government departments Employment agencies Home Office Recruitment South East

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk