To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff have (a) been dismissed and (b) had their contract terminated by his Department in each of the last five years; what the reason was in each case; and what the severance costs in relation to (i) dismissal and (ii) contract termination were in each such year. (290572)

The information is as follows.

(a) Table 1 shows the number of staff who have been dismissed.

(b) We are unable to identify those who have had their contract terminated as this is not a utilised reason for leaving; to identify the reason for each case could be obtained only at disproportionate cost as the data are not held centrally and would require each regional office to provide data.

The severance costs in relation to (i) dismissal and (ii) contract termination for each financial year is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate costs as it would require each regional office to provide data.