Written question asked by John Baron (Conservative) on Thursday, 30 June 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 5 July 2005. It was answered by Liam Byrne (Labour) on Thursday, 7 July 2005 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Ethical Recruitment

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of recruiting agencies used by the NHS were signed up to the Department's Code of Practice on ethical recruitment in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Answer: [holding answer 5 July 2005]: Compliance with the code is recorded on the NHS Employers' website at: www.nhsemployers.org/doc/recruitment_code_of_practice.pdf.115 recruitment agencies were invited to sign up to the code via the website at the end of 2002. By February 2003, 64 agencies had replied with confirmation that they complied with the provisions of the code. By August 2004, the number had increased to 164.A revised code was published in December 2004, which tightened arrangements for locum recruitment and the private sector.As at June 2005, the number of agencies currently named on the Code of Practice website is 237.

Secondary information