§ Mr. Eldon Griffithsasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what steps are being taken to implement Recommendation 8, Group (ii), of Part 2 of the Northumberland Committee Report on the Outbreak of Foot-and-Mouth Disease in 1967–68;
307W(2) by how many officers the Veterinary Field Service is under strength;
(3) what steps are being taken to recruit officers to the Veterinary Field Service.
§ Mr. MackieDiscussions on future recruitment to the Veterinary Field Service were already in progress when the Northumberland Committee reported, and the Committee's observations and recommendation are being taken into account in these discussions. Meantime a team of veterinary officers from the Department have recently visited all veterinary schools with a view to interesting students in careers in the State Service, These measures are designed to encourage recruitment to fill the current 43 vacancies in the Field Service complement of 442 permanent professional posts. Meantime, wherever appropriate, the Department is making additional recourse to the fee-paid services of veterinary surgeons in private practice who are on the Department's panel of Local Veterinary Inspectors. The future structure of the Veterinary Field Service and the Veterinary Investigation Service is currently under consideration.
§ Mr. Eldon Griffithsasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many veterinary officer recruits took up posts in the Veterinary Field Service in 1969; and what was their average age.
§ Mr. MackieNineteen. Their average age was 38.8 years.
§ Mr. Eldon Griffithsasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the wastage rate in the Veterinary Field Service during 1969 through death, resignation and retirement.
§ Mr. MackieTwenty-one.