§ Mr. Michael Brownasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many civil servants, and at what cost per annum, are employed to deal with EEC business in his Department in (a) London, (b) Brussels and (c) elsewhere.
§ Mr. Peter WalkerThere are 35 staff in the European Community divisions of my Ministry in London employed on European Community business. The annual cost of their salaries and national insurance is some £320,000. In addition, many other officers throughout the Department spend a greater or lesser part of their time on European Community business; I regret that details are not readily available and could not be obtained without disproportionate cost. Four officers are also temporarily working with the European Commission in Brussels in specialised fields at an annual cost to my Department of about £60,000.
The total staff of my Department has declined by over 1,200 since we joined the EEC, prior to which we were responsible for all aspects of agriculture on a national basis.