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Departmental Staff

Volume 447: debated on Friday 16 June 2006

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff in his Department were (a) civil servants, (b) contractors and (c) other staff in each year since 1997. (27453)

The number of civil servants in the Department between 1998 and 2004 can be found at Table C on the Civil Service Statistics which shows permanent staff numbers (FTE basis) in each Department and agency.

Civil Service Statistics 2004 are available in the Library and on the Cabinet Office Statistics website at:

http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/management_of_the_civil_service/statistics/civil_service_statistics/index.asp

The data for 1997 can be obtained from Table C in Civil Service Statistics 2003.

Civil Service staffing trends by Department are now published by the Cabinet Office on a quarterly basis via its statistics website at:

http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/management_information/statistical_information/statistics/index.asp

The most recent figures reflecting staffing as at 31 December 2005 were published on 7 April 2006.

For ease of reference the figures since 1 April 2002, the first available since the Department’s formation in June 2001, are in the following table:

Number of staff

1 April 2002

125,910

1 April 2003

127,000

1 April 2004

129,200

31 March 2005

121,020

31 December 2005

117,680

Notes: 1. Figures are FTE rounded and include temporary staff. 2. Figures from 2002 to 2004 exclude staff on paid maternity leave. 3. Figures from 31 March 2005 are based on the Office for National Statistics definition.

No central data are held on the number of contractors or agency workers employed by the Department. The information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in his Department have been (a) disciplined and (b) dismissed for (i) inappropriate use of the internet while at work and (ii) using work telephones to access premium rate numbers in each of the last five years. (68001)

The information on the number of people disciplined and dismissed for inappropriate use of the internet for the period July 2003 to September 2005 is shown in the following table. No information is available for the period before July 2003.

Number of disciplinary and dismissal actions against DWP employees that were as a result of internet abuse

Disciplined

Dismissed

July 2003 to December 2003

124

6

January 2004 to December 2004

190

18

January 2005 to December 2005

100

34

No information is held on the number of disciplinary actions or dismissals for using work telephones to access premium rate numbers.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what incentives his Department offers to encourage staff to share vehicles when travelling to work. (73104)

The Department for Work and Pensions’ staff are encouraged to set up car sharing schemes; details of the benefits of car sharing and how to start and run schemes are on the departmental intranet. Staff are encouraged to participate in schemes run by other organisations, for example, local authorities.

The Department also offers other incentives to encourage more sustainable forms of travel; these include salary advances for the purchase of season travel tickets and bicycles. Concessionary bus passes are available in some locations and the Department also provides showers and changing facilities at a number of sites.

The Department promotes sustainable travel to work. Sustainable Transport Travel pages are available on the intranet. The travel pages promote awareness of travel options and include a copy of the Departmental Generic Travel Plan. Details of greener forms of transport are also included in the Departmental Induction Pack.