§ Mr. CryerTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the number of civil servants in his Ministry whose main task is work related wholly or mainly to the European Economic Community; and what is the gross annual cost of travel and accommodation to and from Brussels, Luxembourg and Strasbourg in connection with this work.
§ Mr. Donald ThompsonThe work undertaken by my Department as a consequence of the United Kingdom's membership of the European Community cannot easily be distinguished from other work. It is not possible, therefore, to give precise information on the number of staff whose main task is work related wholly or mainly to the EC. However, we estimate that between one quarter and one third of the Department's manpower, including common service and support staff, are concerned directly or indirectly with duties arising out of EC membership. At 31 January 1989 this amounted approximately to between 2,500 amd 3,400 staff.
The gross cost of travel and subsistence by Ministers and officials attending meetings of institutions of the European Community in 1987–88, the latest financial year for which figures are available, was:
£ Travel and allied charges 480,058 Subsistence 291,313 771,371 The bulk of travel costs is recoverable from Community funds. it is not possible to identify costs relating specifically to meetings held in Brussels, Luxembourg and Strasbourg, or those on EC matters not held under the auspices of the Community.
The 950 staff of the Intervention Board for Agricultural Produce are entirely engaged on work related to the European Community. The gross cost in 1987–88 of foreign travel and subsistence, almost all of which relates to meetings of institutions of the European Community, was £42,612.