Statement by TUV leader, Jim Allister:-
“To me the Voluntary Exit Scheme (VES) was always questionable in that a recruitment freeze combined with natural wastage would have soon produced the same outcome, but without the need to borrow £700m.
“But to now discover that the VES has produced a spike in agency staff employed in NICS, at a total cost of over £10m, adds to my concerns. Concerns which are further compounded by the admission by the Finance minister that there was no ban on those exiting, with a handsome package, immediately re-entering as agency workers.
“Once more the fiscal management of this Executive is in serious question.”
Q:
To ask the Minister of Finance (i) how many agency staff have been engaged in the Civil Service during and since the Voluntary Exit Scheme; (ii) at what cost; and (iii) how many of those staff exited under the scheme then returned as agency staff.
A:
The NICS Voluntary Exit Scheme was launched on 2 March 2015 and the final tranche exited at 31 May 2016. The number of agency workers engaged in the Civil Service at 1 April 2015 was 372 and at 1 June 2016 was 497. By way of some comparison, headcount in the Civil Service reduced by 3,327 in the period 1 April 2015 to 1 July 2016, which in itself will generate an annual pay bill saving of approximately £100 million.
The cost of agency workers engaged in the Civil Service during and since the Voluntary Exit Scheme is £10,634,853.80. This represents the total expenditure on agency staff during the period 1 April 2015 – 1 June 2016.
The NICS Voluntary Exit Scheme was open only to permanent NICS employees. Agency staff are not NICS employees and so were not eligible to apply and therefore none of those left under the Scheme then returned as agency staff. In relation to the number of civil servants who exited under the Scheme who then returned as agency staff, this information is not held by my Department, as it is permissible under the rules of the NICS Compensation Scheme for staff who leave via the Voluntary Exit Scheme to take up employment subsequently as an agency worker.