PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Temporary Employment (10 December 2014)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many contract staff work for his Department, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies; and what is the longest length of time any contractor has been working for each.

Asked by:
Debbie Abrahams (Labour)

The latest published figure for the number of specialist contractors within the ‘core’ Department is 64, as at 31 October 2014.

As at 31 October, the longest length of time any specialist contractor has been working for the Department is nine years and two months.

The Executive Agencies and Executive Non-Departmental Public Bodies have supplied the information set out in the table below.

Further comprehensive data about all contract staff in these bodies can be found on the workforce information website at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dh-workforce-information-2014

Name of organisation	Specialist contract staff working in the organisation as at 31 October 2014	Longest length of time any specialist contractor has been working as at 31 October 2014
Public Health England	13	19 months
Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency	3	2 years and 4 months
NHS England*	917*	Not Available
Monitor	16	160 days
Care Quality Commission	64	4 years and 7 months
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence	48	5 years and 3 months
Health and Social Care Information Centre	58	1 year 7 months
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority	1	12 months
Human Tissue Authority	0	Not applicable

*The NHS England figure of 917, taken from the organisation’s 2013-14 annual report and accounts, also includes other individuals engaged on a non-permanent basis such as agency staff and secondees

Answered by:
Dr Dan Poulter (Labour)
15 December 2014