§ Dr. David ClarkTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the current regional and divisional offices which deal with his Ministry's grant, subsidy licensing and other work that are due for closure prior to the regional reorganisation; how many staff in each are to be made redundant; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. GummerAs a result of the restructuring of my Department's regional organisation, grant and subsidy work, licensing and other administrative functions will be transferred from the following regional and divisional offices to the new regional service centres:
Regional Offices
- Leeds
- Wolverhampton
Divisional Offices
- Beverley
- Chelmsford
- Gloucester
- Guildford
- Huntingdon
- Lincoln
- Maidstone
- Newcastle
- Norwich
- Oxford
- Preston
- Taunton
The location of the regional service centre for Devon and Cornwall is still under review. Meantime grant and subsidy processing and other administrative work will continue to be carried out at the divisional offices at Exeter and Truro.
194WIt is projected that the regional reorganisation will result in a net loss of about 150 posts across the country as a whole. Where posts are to be lost every effort will be made to find staff alternative jobs. We shall be doing all we can to avoid compulsory redundancies.