HC Deb 28 November 1983 vol 49 cc405-6W
Miss Maynard

asked the Secretary of State for Employment for how many non-agricultural establishments Her Majesty's Agricultural Inspectorate had responsibility on 1 June 1983.

Mr. Gummer

On 1 June 1983 Her Majesty's Agricultural Inspectorate had responsibility for approximately 65,000 non-agricultural establishments.

Miss Maynard

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many agricultural holdings were registered with Her Majesty's Agricultural Inspectorate on 1 June 1979, 1980, 1981 and 1982, respectively.

Mr. Gummer

Her Majesty's s Agricultural Inspectorate does not register agricultural holdings and utilises figures given in the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food annual statistical returns as a basis for work planning. The following are the total number of holdings shown in these returns in England, Wales and Scotland for the years in question:

Numbers
1979 229,000
1980 217,000
1981 216,000
1982 216,000

Miss Maynard

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many inspections were made by Her Majesty's Agricultural Inspectorate on non-agricultural units in 1979, 1980, 1981 and 1982 respectively.

Mr. Gummer

The total number of inspections made by Her Majesty's Agricultural Inspectorate on nonagricultural units during the period 1979 to 1981 are not available at the inspectorate's headquarters. This information is however now computerised and the number of inspections of this type carried out during 1982 is a total of 1,200.

Miss Maynard

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the present time between planned visits to (a) labour employing agricultural units, (b) non-labour employing agricultural units and (c) other units for which Her Majesty's Agricultural Inspectorate is responsible.

Mr. Gummer

The frequency of planned visits to(a) labour employing agricultural units, (b) non-labour employing agricultural units and other units for which Her Majesty's Agricultural Inspectorate is responsible are as follows:

Labour employing agricultural units 4–7 years
Non-labour employing agricultural units 12–16 years
Other units 12–16 years

Miss Maynard

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the length of time taken to train an agricultural inspector after joining the Health and Safety Executitve, the date of last recruitment of agricultural inspectors and the date of the next recruitment of agricultural inspectors.

Mr. Gummer

The length of time taken to train the last intake of assistant agricultural inspectors was two years. The last recruitment was held in 1979 and it is hoped that the next recruitment of up to 10 assistant agricultural inspectors will result in them taking up post by early summer 1984.

Miss Maynard

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many inspections of agricultural holdings were made by appointment in 1979, 1980, 1981 and 1982; and how many inspections of agricultural holdings without appointment were made for the same period.

Mr. Gummer

The inspectorate keeps no records of numbers of inspections made by or without appointment; however, at the end of 1982 a survey was carried out in 4 out of the eight agricultural regions which showed that 69.5 per cent. of visits made during the period surveyed were made by appointment and 30.5 per cent. were carried out where no prior appointment had been made.

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