18 Use of EU contract staff
| Committee's assessment
| Politically important |
| Committee's decision | Cleared from scrutiny; further information requested
|
| Document details | Commission Report on the use of contract staff in 2012 and 2013
|
| Legal base | —
|
| Departments
Document numbers
| Foreign and Commonwealth Office
(36678), 6466/15, COM(15) 67
|
Summary and Committee's conclusions
18.1 The Commission is required to provide reports
on the use of contract staff in each year within the EU institutions
and agencies. Contract staff are divided into four function groups
and include: (1) mail staff, drivers, administrative support,
skilled workers (2) nursery staff, office managers, clerks, secretaries,
technical staff (3) financial management, ICT, executive/technical
tasks (4) administrative, communication and advisory tasks, researches,
engineers, linguists.
18.2 This report reviews the situation in 2012 and
2013. The key findings are:
· there was an increase in staff employed
across the institutions and agencies from 9,697 in 2011 to 9,904
in 2012 and 9,986 in 2013;
· the approximately 60% Commission share
in 2012 and 2013 compares with a two thirds share in 2011, but
the drop is attributable to increased numbers at other institutions
and agencies;
· the Commission attributes the overall
increase in staff to replacement of auxiliary staff by auxiliary
contract staff, the replacement of former Category D contract
staff, the conversion of permanent official posts into contract
staff and the employment of contract staff as temporary replacements
for permanent staff;
· 5,921 contract staff were serving in the
Commission as at 31 December 2012 and 5,807 as at 31 December
2013, with the largest function group being group 3;
· there has been a rise of 7.7% and 4.9%
in the use of contract staff at other institutions and agencies
between 2011-12 and 2012-13 respectively;
· the gender balance has remained stable
with women making up 63.2% of all contract staff in 2011, compared
with 63.2% in 2012 and 62.8% in 2013; and
· the UK, Germany, Poland and the Netherlands
are underrepresented on a population basis, compared with a high
contract staff representation for Belgium and Italy measured on
the same basis.
18.3 The Government is disappointed both with the
rise in the numbers of contract staff and UK underrepresentation.
However, as the Minister for Europe (Mr David Lidington) explains
in his Explanatory Memorandum, the Government is taking action
to address both issues.
18.4 The increase in the use of contract staff
and the underrepresentation of the UK in the staff of the EU institutions
and agencies is concerning. However, we note that the Government
recognises these difficulties and is taking action to address
both staff costs and better recruitment from the UK. So, although
we draw this Report to the attention to the House for information,
we now clear it from scrutiny.
Full details of the documents:
Report from the Commission to the Council on the use of contract
staff in 2012 and 2013: (36678), 6466/15, COM(15) 67.
The Government's view
18.5 In his Explanatory Memorandum of 5 March, the
Minister for Europe sets out the key findings of the Report, as
summarised in paragraph 18.2 above. He adds that:
· the MFF provision for a 5% cut in staff
for 2013-17 did not apply to contract staff but the Commission
has instead given assurances that increased numbers of contract
staff will not be used to compensate for reductions in permanent
staff;
· the institutions must be efficient and
subject to the same reduction in administrative costs as domestic
civil services have been during austerity;
· the rise in contract staff is therefore
disappointing;
· the Government will work with like-minded
Member States to maintain calls for a reduction in the costs of
all categories of staff;
· the Government will also review the impact
of the recruitment of new candidates for the institutions which
took place in September 2013 and which will be felt in 2014, when
a further increase in contract staff could be expected; and
· it remains a key Government priority to
address the underrepresentation of UK citizens in the staff of
the institutions and agencies. The Government has established
an EU staffing unit in April 2013, promoting EU careers, is providing
training for the recruitment process across Government and is
also increasing secondments for the UK in strategic roles.
Previous Committee Reports
None, but see (34699), 6580/13 and (34722), 6830/13:
Thirty-eighth Report HC 86-xxxvii (2012-13), chapter 7 (26 March
2013).
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