Dear Mr Starky

Re: Request under the 2000 Freedom of Information Act

Thank you for your e-mail dated 12^th August 2008, in which you sought information relating to the following from the Ministry of Justice:

Can you provide the number of job vacancies that were externally advertised by the department broken down between April 07 to April 08 and between 1^st April 2008 and 30^th June 2008.

I can confirm that the Department holds the information that you have requested. The figures you require are as follows, but due to slight differences in the way they have been compiled they have been split between figures for the National Offender Management Service (NOMS)/Her Majesties' Prisons Service (HMPS) and figures for the rest of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ):

NOMS/HMPS figures

There were 4,925 permanent new joiners to HMPS for the period April 07 to April 08 and 1,933 for the period 1^st April to 30^th June 2008.

The above joiner data has been provided in lieu of the number of job vacancies advertised externally. This is due to a large number of vacancies being filled via continuous recruitment activity, e.g. National Prison Officer Recruitment Campaign.

MoJ figures (excluding NOMS/HMPS)

Between April 07 and April 08 there were 1,481 externally advertised vacancies and between April 08 and June 08 there were 482 externally advertised vacancies.

Please accept my apologies for the delay in providing you with this information. This was due to an oversight following a staff move. Since this matter came to light, I have taken measures to ensure that a delay of this nature is not repeated.

If you are not content with the result of your request for information, you may request an internal review within two calendar months of the date of this letter by writing to data Access and Compliance Unit, Ministry of Justice, Postal Point 1.40, Floor 1, Zone C, 102 Petty France, London, SW1H 9AJ.

If you dissatisfied with the findings of this review, you have a right to apply to the Information Commissioner. The address for the Information Commissioner is: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

Freedom of Information User Survey

The Constitution Unit, a research body at University College London, is carrying out an independent evaluative study of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in co-operation with a number of public authorities, including the Ministry of Justice. An important part of the evaluation process is gathering the experiences and opinions of FOI requesters like you. Any information you provide will only be seen by the Constitution Unit and will be handled in accordance with its privacy policy explained in the survey. The Ministry of Justice will only see the published results: no individual responses will be visible to us and your participation will have no effect on your future dealings with the Ministry.

If you would like to take part in this study, please click the following link to be taken directly to the survey: tinyurl.com/2q4ll8. Or, if you prefer, contact Ben Worthy at [email address] or on 020 7679 4974 to ask more about the study.

If you have filled this survey out before, we invite you to fill it out again in light of the recent response to your request.

Yours sincerely

Pat Vincent

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