§ Mr. Leeasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what Common Market intervention surpluses are currently held in the area of the West Midlands County Council; and what is the value of those stocks, commodity by commodity.
§ Mr. BishopWith the exception of cereals, commodities taken into intervention are stored by the Intervention Board for Agricultural Produce in approved commercial stores throughout the United Kingdom, depending on availability and the location of the production point. For commercial and operational reasons, the quantities of intervention stocks held in such stores in the area of the West Midlands County Council are not published. There are no Government-owned cereals stores in that area.
§ Mr. Leeasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) how many persons are currently employed in work at the various Common Market intervention surpluses in the United Kingdom; what is the total annual wage and salary bill; and how many of the persons so employed are employed on duties in the area of the West Midlands County Council;
428W(2) what authorities are responsible for assessing the staffing requirements of the Common Market intervention surpluses storage depots in the United Kingdom; and if he is satisfied that salaries and wages of such staff do not exceed those of persons employed upon the same kind of work at warehouses and cold storage depots elsewhere in the United Kingdom and not used for storage of intervention stocks.
§ Mr. BishopWith the exception of cereals, the Intervention Board relies entirely on approved commercial facilities for the storage of intervention stocks. Responsibility for the staffing of these stores—which also store commodities other than intervention stocks—is a matter for the firms concerned. Government-owned stores for intervention cereals are managed by commercial operators, who are responsible for staffing.