To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was spent by her Department on (a) staff training and (b) communication training in the last 12 months. (153139)

Home Office expenditure on training for the financial year 2006-07 was £29,732,614. Details of expenditure on communication training could be only provided at disproportionate cost.

The aforementioned figure includes expenditure by the core Home Office, the Border and Immigration Agency, the National Offender Management Service and the Office of Criminal Justice Reform. The latter two are now part of the Ministry of Justice.

The size of the expenditure reflects both the size of the Home Office, which employed almost 25,000 people in 2006-07, and the degree of importance the department places on equipping staff with the skills necessary to conduct their duties effectively in a changing working environment.