To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the percentage turnover of staff was in (a) his Department and (b) his Department’s agencies in (i) the last 12-month period and (ii) the last 24-month period for which figures are available. (169029)

[holding answer 27 November 2007]: The annual turnover rate for the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory (BERR) from August 2007 to September 2007 was 18 per cent. The annual turnover rate for the same period for BERR plus UK Trade and Investment and the Office of Manpower Economics was 19 per cent.

The annual turnover rate for the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) from August 2005 to September 2006 was 19 per cent. The annual turnover rate for the same period for the DTI plus UKTI and The Office of Manpower Economics was 18 per cent.

The turnover rate for the Department’s agencies is not held centrally. Therefore the cost of preparing an answer for the agencies would be disproportionate to the benefit to be derived.