Departmental Recruitment

Mr. Prisk
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much (a) her Department and (b) its executive agencies spent on (i) recruitment consultants and (ii) external recruitment advertising to recruit staff in each of the last five financial years; which recruitment consultants were employed for those purposes in each of those years; and if she will make a statement.

Mr. Woolas
The decision to employ recruitment consultants to assist with filling a particular vacancy is made by individual business units, and all associated costs are met from devolved unit budgets. The information requested is therefore not held centrally and could be provided only at a disproportionate cost.