§ Mr. Hastingsasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food the present number of pest officers employed by his Department and county agricultural executive committees; what salaries are paid to these officers; what instructions are given to them in connection with the requests by the farming community for increased destruction of British wild life; and to what extent these instructions are based on information in recent ecological surveys.
Mr. AmoryThe number of pests officers employed by my Department and county agricultural executive committees and their salaries are as follows:
10 Provincial pests officers £860–£l,050 10 Field officers (Pests) Grade I £860–£l,050 51 Field officers (Pests) Grade II £655–£830* 155 Field officers (Pests) Grade III £311–£655 Instructions to these officers concern the control of the animals specified in Section 98 of the Agriculture Act, 1947 (namely, rabbits, hares and other rodents, deer, foxes and moles) and wood-pigeons and birds of the crow family. The instructions are kept under review in the light of information obtained in ecological surveys.
* Established staff only; temporary scale stops at £785.