Our ref:           DE00000302614

 

28 April 2008

Dear Mr Thomas,

 

Thank you for your request for information under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 about posts filled at the Department of Health by temporary staff, consultants or secondees as a result of an inability to fill a vacancy by means of internal recruitment.  Your request was received on 22 April and it has been passed to me for reply.

 

I can confirm that the Department does not hold the information you have requested.  The Department does not separately identify instances where temporary staff are employed because a post cannot be filled by internal recruitment and those where it is a conscious business decision to make use of temporary staff.

 

It may be helpful if I explain that the Department employs temporary staff of various kinds for a number of reasons, including:

 

• to cover short term vacancies, such as the need for administrative support;
• to fill posts temporarily because they are likely to be relocated or because structural changes are being implemented;
• to provide skills that the Department does not have but needs urgently and / or on a short term basis; and
• in the case of secondments into the organisation, to support the development of staff in other organisations where there is also a business benefit for the Department in doing so.

 

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact me.  Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.

 

If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your request and wish to make a complaint or request a review of our decision, you should write to the Section Head of the Department’s Freedom of Information Unit at the following address:

 

Freedom of Information Unit

Department of Health

Room 334b

Skipton House

80 London Road

SE1 6LH

 

Email:xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xx.xxx.xxx.xx

 

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner (ICO) for a decision.  Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by the Department.  The ICO can be contacted at:

 

The Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Stuart Craig

Department of Health

Room 317

79 Whitehall

London SW1A 2NS