§ Mr. CAUTLEYasked the Minister of Agriculture how many county or local officers he is employing in the county of Sussex, and what are their respective descriptions, duties, and salaries; and does the Ministry contribute any and what part of the salaries of any and what officers appointed or employed by the agricultural committees of the county councils for East and West Sussex?
Sir A. BOSCAWENThe total number of officers employed directly by the Ministry exclusively in the county of Sussex is 23, of whom only one is a whole-time officer, namely, an inspector of the Agricultural Wages Board (salary, £350 per annum inclusive). The remaining 22 officers are employed for part of their time; of these nine are crop reporters with salaries varying from £60 to £100 per annum inclusive; one is a market reporter (salary, £25 per annum inclusive); 11 are collectors of fishery statistics with salaries varying from £2 10s. to £60 per annum inclusive; and one is secretary to the Sussex District Wages Committee (salary, £160 per annum inclusive).
The Ministry also employs directly 19 officers, whose work is not confined to Sussex. Twelve of these officers are engaged in 15 other counties as well as Sussex in connection with agriculture, horticulture, dairying and small livestock, education, training of disabled ex-service men and general horticulture (including the Destructive Insects and Pests Acts): one of these officers receives a salary of £480 per annum inclusive; six receive basic salaries between £150 and £250; four between £300 and £400, and one exceeding £500 per annum. The remaining seven officers are a district commissioner (salary, £700 per annum inclusive), and two sub-commissioners (salaries, £540 per annum inclusive), employed chiefly on work in connection with land settlement; a divisional inspector on work in connection with diseases of animals (scale of 1526W salary, £400—15—£500 plus bonus); one livestock officer (salary, £500 per annum plus bonus); one assistant livestock officer (salary, £150 per annum plus bonus), and one horse-breeding officer (salary, £500 plus bonus). The district of the last-mentioned officer comprises 11 other counties.
With regard to the second part of the question, the Ministry has delegated to the Agricultural Committees for East and West Sussex certain powers under the Corn Production Acts, 1917 and 1920, relating to the enforcement of proper cultivation, and the Ministry will contribute a proportion, based on the amount of time devoted to the work, of the salaries of those officers of the committees who are engaged in carrying out these duties. It is difficult at the present time to estimate what proportion of the salaries of these officers and of the necessary clerical assistance will be repayable by the Ministry at the end of the present year, but it is probable that the total amounts in respect of these services will not exceed £1,650 for East Sussex and £1,300 for West Sussex.
In the case of the officers employed by the Agricultural Committees on agricultural education, the Ministry contributes a proportion of their salaries varying from 66f per cent. to 80 per cent. The salaries of the officers of the Agricultural Committees employed on land settlement work are a charge on the county councils' land settlement accounts, the loss on which will be refunded by the Ministry.