Asked by: Pamela Nash (Labour - Motherwell, Wishaw and Carluke)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many staff in his Department and its executive agencies and associated bodies were engaged off-payroll in each of the last five years up to the most recent period for which figures are available.
Answered by Kris Hopkins
The Department for Communities and Local Government publishes monthly workforce management information on the Department, its executive agencies and its associated bodies. This information includes the number and cost of both payroll and non payroll staff. The monthly returns from March 2011 can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/workforce-management
As far as I am aware, there is no suggestion that there are any inappropriate tax avoidance arrangements by our specialist contractors who are off-payroll.
Asked by: Pamela Nash (Labour - Motherwell, Wishaw and Carluke)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much his Department spent on (a) recruitment agency fees, (b) outplacement agency fees for displaced or redundant staff and (c) staff training in each of the last five years.
Answered by Kris Hopkins
My Department has reduced staffing costs from £218 million a year in 2009-10 to £95 million in 2013-14, an ongoing saving of £123 million a year.
There is and remains a need to replace staff from general turnover and where we need specific technical skills. We are committed to open recruitment, so we can obtain individual staff with the best expertise from the private sector, the voluntary sector and other parts of the public sector.
The total sums spent on recruitment agencies are as follows:
2010-11 | £27,787 |
2011-12 | £13,201 |
2012-13 | £9,974 |
2013-14 | £16,946 |
2014-15 | Zero |
These figures exclude public appointments and Cabinet Office recruitment but are inclusive of VAT.
We have not made any such outplacement agencies fees in the last five years.
This Government has taken a series of steps to save taxpayers' money and improve overall quality of the training provision. My answer of 24 February 2015, Question 224508, outlined the spending in each full financial year from 2008-09 onwards.
Asked by: Pamela Nash (Labour - Motherwell, Wishaw and Carluke)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many people in his Department have been employed on zero-hour contracts in each of the last two years.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
[Holding Reply: Thursday 1 May 2014]
My Department has employed the following numbers of staff on zero-hour contracts in each of the last two years:
2012-13 – 2
2013-14 – 2
In all cases, these were short-term arrangements for individuals to complete specific pieces of work which required particular expertise or professional skills.