§ Mr. Nigel Fisherasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many additional civil servants will be required to administer the Medicines Act when it is fully operative; and what will be the total annual cost of the administration of this Act.
§ Sir K. JosephThe present authorised complement of staff in my Department and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to administer the Medicines Act is 184, which is 126 more than the staff dealing with control of medicines when the Act was passed. I cannot forecast whether, and if so what, increases may be necessary when all the provisions of the Act are brought into force. On the basis of the present complement, the total annual cost of administration is estimated at £950,000; this does not include expenditure on laboratory testing of human medicines other than biological substances the arrangements for which are still being considered.