FOI Ref: FOI/2021/3378

You asked

Please supply the following information for the last 5 years:

  • The number of requests for loans (to another department or agency) and secondments (to an external organisation) that have been submitted by employees across the ONS and, separately, in People & Business Services.

  • How many of those requests have been accepted and how many have been declined across the ONS and, separately, in People & Business Services.

We said

Thank you for your request.

As a result of an FOI request regarding the number of loans and secondments (and particularly those in and out of People and Business Services) the case management team, and the People Analytics team were contacted.

Data was taken from Fusion, the organisation's HR system where secondments and loans are recorded, and the data was analysed from November 2015 to November 2021.

Civil Service defines a loan as going to another government department for a period, a secondment typically in or out of the private sector for a defined period.  

The total loans that have taken place over this period for the whole of ONS was 193, the total number of secondments out of ONS was 50.

For People and Business Services, the total number of loans during this period was 16, the total number of secondments out of ONS was 1.

Data is not retained on where a secondment has been declined as Case Management calls are only progressed when Deputy Director approval is given; and therefore, no records are kept.  

All decisions on loans and secondments are taken in accordance with our loans and secondments policies. For secondments, this states that "Secondments must be agreed by the employee's home department and should be considered alongside business need, business benefits and development benefits".

In relation to loans, the policy states that "the Deputy Director should approve outgoing loans", and "when accepting or refusing to support a loan request, managers should give clear reasons which are related to the business benefits."