There are currently no positions which can be regarded as supernumerary within my Department.
My Department also gathers quarterly data on staff numbers in Local Authorities. In the most recent data collected at the end of June 2015, there were 133.06 supernumerary positions in the sector (Whole Time Equivalent (WTE) basis), largely comprising staff seconded to other organisations. My Department does not collect information in relation to the maximum period in each case that supernumerary positions have existed or the total cost in maintaining such supernumerary positions; in the case of secondments, the cost involved is generally borne by the receiving organisation.
No information on supernumerary positions is held in my Department in relation to the agencies under its aegis. However, staff numbers in those agencies have been managed under the Employment Control Framework which has seen overall numbers employed in the agencies concerned decline from 951 WTEs in 2008 to 680 WTEs in 2015.