Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the cost of using external agencies for recruitment of senior civil service posts in (a) his Department, (b) the former Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and (c) the former Department for Energy and Climate Change in the last year for which information is available.

The estimated cost for using external agencies for recruitment to Senior Civil Service posts in 2014/15 was:

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills £155,000

Department for Energy and Climate Change £176,080

Information for later years is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.