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<p>Since April 2010 we have cut our overall spend on temporary staff by £35.5m. We
only use temporary staff to fill business-critical posts and essential frontline services
where they can provide a fast, flexible and efficient way to obtain necessary skills
that are not currently available in-house. We will continue to examine our use of
contractors and look for further reductions.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>In responding
to each question we have utilised data provided by our contracted supplier of temporary
clerical staff and contracted supplier of temporary operational staff. As the data
provided has been supplied by two different third parties there is a slight difference
in the way that the answer to question 3 and 4 has been presented.</p><p> </p><p>Temporary
operational staff relate to Operational Support Grades (OSGs) used within HM Prison
Service. We have contracts in place to provide temporary OSGs to fill in gaps in requirements,
for building projects or to fill vacancies short term. Temporary OSGs are a very small
proportion of our staff complement.</p><p> </p><p>Uniform operational support staff
are Operational Support Grades (OSGs).These are uniformed staff who undertake a wide
range of duties in prisons, for example operating prison gates, working in security
and managing stores areas. They also escort contractors and their vehicles.</p><p>
</p><p>1) The following amounts (exclusive of VAT) have been spent on clerical agency
staff across -</p><p> </p><p>January 2014 - £2,983,633.14 (5 week period)</p><p>February
2014 - £2,613,023.10 (4 week period)</p><p>March 2014 - £2,591,678.87 (4 week period)</p><p>April
2014 - £2,900,742.70 (5 week period)</p><p>May 2014 - £2,398,053.57 (4 week period)</p><p>June
2014 - £658,700.28 (1 week period)</p><p> </p><p>2) The following amounts (exclusive
of VAT) have been spent on uniform operational support staff –</p><p> </p><p>January
2014 - £1,082,247 (5 week period)</p><p>February 2014 - £1,420,329 (4 week period)</p><p>March
2014 - £1,137,834 (4 week period)</p><p>April 2014 - £1,249,908 (4 week period)</p><p>May
2014 - £2,282,468 (5 week period)</p><p> </p><p>The spend for May 2014 also includes
the backdated annual pay rise for eligible workers from 1<sup>st</sup> April 2014.</p><p>
</p><p>3) The following number of clerical agency staff have been utilised –</p><p>
</p><p>January 2014 - 1571 (Average headcount)</p><p>February 2014 - 1634 (Average
headcount)</p><p>March 2014 - 1624 (Average headcount)</p><p>April 2014 - 1578 (Average
headcount)</p><p>May 2014 - 1644 (Average headcount)</p><p>June 2014 - 1674 (Average
headcount)</p><p> </p><p>4) The following number of uniform operational support staff
have been utilised –</p><p> </p><p>January 2014 - 697 (Peak worker number)</p><p>February
2014 - 845 (Peak worker number)</p><p>March 2014 - 867 (Peak worker number)</p><p>April
2014 - 853 (Peak worker number)</p><p>May 2014 - 855 (Peak worker number)</p><p>June
2014 - Peak worker number not available yet.</p>
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