Departmental Training Mr. Philip Hammond To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much (a) his Department and (b) its agencies have spent on away days in the last 12 months; and what the (i) subject and (ii) location of each away day was. Phil Hope The Department is strongly committed to developing its staff and equipping them with the skills, knowledge and expertise they need to carry out their work. Away days make a significant contribution to such development. Away days are typically arranged by individual teams in the Department and involve activities such as work planning, skills development and strategic thinking. No central records of these events are kept and extracting the necessary data from local sources would entail contacting approximately 200 teams and asking them to search for and retrieve the necessary information. To collect this information task in the core Department would incur disproportionate costs. The NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency has arranged the following away days in the last 12 months: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Date |Subject |Location |Spend (£)| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |28 January 2009 |Corporate Services team development |Birmingham |1,071.52 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |11 February 2009|Procurement Enablement team development |Hinckley |5,499.51 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |15 April 2009 |Change Management Group team development|Warwick University|608.16 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |30 April 2009 |Sourcing staff development |Solihull |819.79 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |17 August 2009 |Centre for Evidence-based Purchasing |Eynsham Hall |2,552.66 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | |Total |10,551.64| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency has arranged the following away days in the last 12 months: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Division |Date |Subject |Location |Cost (£) | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Licensing |8 January 2009 |Licensing Division Managers SDI teambuilding and communication improvement event |Missenden Abbey Conference Centre, Buckinghamshire |9,931.26 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |IE and S |19 January 2009 |GLP/GCP/PV Away Day |Node Conference Centre, Hertfordshire |2,389.60 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Devices Medical |6 February 2009 |Clinical Targets, Business Planning, Value for money and efficiency (Managers’ Away Day)|The Royal Horseguards, Whitehall, London |588.80 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Devices Medical |6 February2009 |Away Day |Penn, Buckinghamshire |0.00 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Executive Board |24 February 2009 |Executive Board Away Day |Springs Hotel, Wallingford, Oxfordshire |5,243.95 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Policy |9 March 2009 |Training/development day on diversity |Windrush Exhibition, Imperial War Museum, Lambeth, London |649.75 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |VRMM |13 March 2009 |SDI teambuilding event/VRMM Information for Public Health Group Away day |Brit Oval, Kennington, London |6,285.13 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Directorate |26 March 2009 |Directorate Away Day/Belbin team roles and work planning |Institute of Directors, Pall Mall, London |834.00 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Device Technology and Safety|23 April 2009 |Away Day |Athenaeum Hotel, Piccadilly, London |868.50 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Human Resources |6 May 2009 |FIRO-B teambuilding event |Wallacespace, Covent Garden, London |2,900.00 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Licensing |8 May 2009 |ECSSM Away Day/Belbin team roles |Brit Oval, Kennington, London |1,863.58 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |VRMM |15 June 2009 |VRMM Management Away day |London Marriott Hotel County Hall, Westminster Bridge Road, London|1,717.39 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Communications |26 June 2009 |CCM—Strategy day |Wallacespace, Covent Garden, London |3,198.50 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |IE and S |17 August 2009 |Leadership Team Awayday |Regency Hotel, South Kensington, 100 Queen's Gate, London SW7 5AG |448.00 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |VRMM |10 September 2009|VRMM Therapeutic Review Group Away day |Brit Oval, Kennington, London |1,715.23 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Device Technology and Safety|17 September 2009|Away Day |Athenaeum Hotel, Piccadilly, London |810.00 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Communications |25 September 2009|Information Centre Away Day |Chelsea Physic Garden, Central London |1,154.00 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Policy |27 October 2009 |Training/development day |Jodrell Laboratory, Kew Gardens, London |65.00 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Policy |3 November 2009 |Policy Skills and Business Planning |Riverside Park Plaza, Albert Embankment, London |1,419.00 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |IE and S |17 November 2009 |Away Day |Hitchin Priory, Hertfordshire |2,119.37 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |IE and S |25 November 2009 |Team Building Event |The Belfry, Birmingham |2,743.44 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |VRMM |8 December 2009 |VRMM Signal Management Group Away day |The Raceway, Docklands, London |2,700.00 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Comms |15 December 2009 |Senior Manager Away day |Brighton |2,805.00 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | |Total |52,449.50| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------