Page:Hansard (UK) - Vol 566 No. 40 August 29th 2013.pdf/87

997W on a temporary or permanent basis are considered as to the suitability for an apprenticeship vacancy. Since March 2012 there have been 35 separate recruitment campaigns for apprentices as a result of this approach. The CPS has appointed 108 new employees to apprenticeship positions, with some campaigns still ongoing. This is in addition to the 66 existing employees who have been enrolled on apprenticeship programmes.

The CPS is also taking part in the pilot Civil Service Fast Track apprenticeship programme which has resulted in eight young people being appointed to permanent posts as part of their apprenticeship programme in paralegal, finance, communications and administration roles.

All apprenticeship vacancies are advertised on the Civil Service Jobs web pages, and CPS is currently exploring working with the apprenticeship training providers to promote CPS apprenticeship vacancies to a wider audience. A single national recruitment campaign for apprentices is planned for autumn 2013 from which CPS would hope to draw from a pool of candidates for vacancies that are both part of this campaign and those that arise in the months following the campaign.

The SFO has run three apprenticeship schemes for individuals aged between 16 and 24 since 2010 and appoint up to four apprentices aged between 16 and 26 in each financial year. Apprentices are appointed on 12 month fixed term contracts working towards either an NVQ level 2 or 3 qualification. The SFO works together with a training provider who is funded by the Learning and Skills Council and apprentices are allocated a mentor to provide additional support throughout the apprenticeship.

During the period in question SFO has employed the following numbers of people as apprentices.

2010-11: Three apprentices who were aged 16 to 18 on appointment and one aged 19 to 21.

2011-12: One apprentice aged 16 to 18, two aged 19 to 21 and one aged 22 to 26.

2013-14: Four apprentices aged 19 to 21.}}

On successful completion of SFO apprenticeship, and provided there is a permanent role available, apprentices are offered a permanent contract.

The Solicitor-General: None.

The Solicitor-General: The Director of Public Prosecutions was appointed on a fixed term contract for a five year period from 1 November 2008 to 31 October 2013. His salary was linked to that of a judge of the Court of Appeal and rendered him eligible to join a Civil Service pension scheme analogous to the judicial scheme pension arrangements. Any pension benefits accrued would be payable when the Director reaches the age of 65. No other payments arise.

The Solicitor-General: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) does not collect data on the number of formal complaints received from the judiciary.

The Solicitor-General: The total amount spent by the Crown Prosecution Service on equality and diversity issues during the last three years was £3,540,671. The following table provides the breakdown of each year’s recorded spending. These figures include staffing costs and running costs:

The remaining Law Officers’ Departments do not employ any individuals solely involved in promoting equality and diversity issues, they do however have specific Equality and Diversity policies which all employees are expected to comply with. In addition the Treasury Solicitor’s Department and the Serious Fraud Office have working groups set up to monitor diversity and equality issues within these departments. It is not possible to reliably estimate the costs involved in these activities without incurring a disproportionate cost.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is also part of Stonewall’s Diversity Champions programme and pays an annual membership fee. In 2012-13 the SFO paid £6,125 to Stonewall, in 2011-12 £1,800, and in 2010-11 £225. The sum for 2012-13 includes annual membership for 2013-14 and 2014-15. Membership for 2010-11 was paid for in 2009-10.