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Written Question
Department of Health and Social Care: Recruitment
Thursday 2nd March 2023

Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much his Department spent on recruitment consultants in each of the last three years.

Answered by Will Quince

The information is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.


Written Question
Cabinet Office: Recruitment
Wednesday 1st March 2023

Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much his Department has spent on headhunters in each of the last three years.

Answered by Jeremy Quin

Cabinet Office will on most occasions procure recruitment consultancy services through Crown Commercial Service (“CCS”) Framework Agreements. Procuring through CCS Framework Agreements delivers consistency and efficiency savings through providing a range of benefits, such as:

  • Access to pre-assessed capable and proven suppliers;

  • Reducing the need for repeat campaigns;

  • Capped maximum costs protecting from market price increases;

  • Notable saving against market rates on average;

  • No hidden costs of service; and

  • Vendors may agree to further discounts for large campaigns.

Venders are also aware of, and must support, government diversity and inclusion requirements when providing their services.

The relevant CCS Framework relating to recruitment consultancy services was established in November 2018 and its first year was a transitional year. Spend incurred by Cabinet Office in the first two full years post-transition are £216,868 for financial year 2020-21 and £206,048 for financial year 2021-22.

The Cabinet Office continues to encourage the use of the CCS Framework across the Department as standard.


Written Question
Wales Office: Recruitment
Monday 27th February 2023

Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)

Question to the Wales Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how much his Department spent on recruitment consultants in each of the last three years.

Answered by David T C Davies - Secretary of State for Wales

The Office of the Secretary of State for Wales has spent nothing on recruitment consultants in the last three years.


Written Question
Northern Ireland Office: Recruitment
Monday 27th February 2023

Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how much his Department spent on recruitment consultants in each of the last three years.

Answered by Steve Baker - Minister of State (Northern Ireland Office)

The amount spent by the Department on recruitment consultants in each of the last three years was:

2019-20 - £31,380


2020-21
- £10,395


2021-22
- £42,336


Written Question
Scotland Office: Recruitment
Monday 27th February 2023

Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)

Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how much his Department spent on recruitment consultants in each of the last three years.

Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland

The Scotland Office has not spent any money on recruitment consultants in the last three years.


Written Question
Department for Transport: Recruitment
Friday 24th February 2023

Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much his Department spent on recruitment consultants in each of the last three years.

Answered by Jesse Norman

The records available to the Department for Transport via the Crown Commercial Service (CCS), as declared by suppliers on their permanent recruitment frameworks, for each of the last three years are as follows:

2020/21

£100,044.62

2021/22

£45,532.00

2022/23

£189,376.90 (to date)

Note: Recruitment consultancies are used by the department to attract the talent and specialist skills required to deliver its strategic objectives and services. It is possible, but unlikely, that some spend has occurred that has not been declared by suppliers, although the Department’s internal finance system does not record data in such a way that allows this to be cross-checked. These totals are inclusive of recruitment to the Department for Transport and its Executive Agencies (DVSA, DVLA, MCA, VCA and ATE) and for both senior civil service (SCS) and delegated grade recruitment. The figure for 20/21 was higher than expected due to a higher volume of recruitment targeted at individuals with specialist/hard to recruit skills. The increase in 22/23 over the previous year results from a renewed focus on the department’s places for growth agenda and a growing focus on recruiting outside London.


Written Question
Ministry of Defence: Recruitment
Friday 24th February 2023

Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department spent on recruitment consultants in each of the last three years.

Answered by Alex Chalk - Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice

Although examples will exist for specific roles, the Department does not, in general, make use of external recruitment consultants to fill fulltime roles and the information requested is not centrally held.


Written Question
Ministry of Justice: Recruitment
Friday 24th February 2023

Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much his Department spent on recruitment consultants in each of the last three years.

Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

I can confirm the MoJ has no spend on recruitment consultants in the last three years.


Written Question
Treasury: Recruitment
Thursday 23rd February 2023

Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much his Department spent on recruitment consultants in each of the last three years.

Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

Consistent with the answer given to a written question on 17 May 2022, the information requested on recruitment consultant expenditure is not available, as we do not hold detail of expenditure on recruitment costs at this level of granularity for any of the financial years in question.


Written Question
Home Office: Recruitment
Thursday 23rd February 2023

Asked by: Christine Jardine (Liberal Democrat - Edinburgh West)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department spent on recruitment consultants in each of the last three years.

Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office does not report the information sought to the level of granularity required. To identify spending on recruitment consultants specifically from our management systems would require a manual review of all consultancy related transactions.

This can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.