§ Mr. Ron Daviesasked the Secretary of State for Wales if he is satisfied with the level of service provided by the Welsh Office agriculture department.
§ Mr. Ron Daviesasked the Secretary of State for Wales what advisory services the Welsh Office agriculture department offers in the county of Gwent.
§ Mr. John Stradling ThomasThe advisory services provided in the county of Gwent are the same as those provided in every county of England and Wales, that is490W professional, scientific and technical advice on all aspects of farming to individual farm businesses and the agriculture industry in general.
§ Mr. Ron Daviesasked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the number of advisory officers employed and the advisory services offered by each administrative division of the Welsh Office agriculture department.
§ Mr. John Stradling ThomasThe number of advisory officers employed in each Welsh Office Agriculture Department division is as follows. This excludes 93 regional staff not organised on a divisional basis.
Division Number of Officers Caernarvon 31 Cardiff 30 Carmarthen 59 Llandrindod Wells 37 Ruthin 26 183 The advisory services offered are professional, scientific and technical advice on all aspects of fanning to individual farm businesses and the agriculture industry in general.
§ Mr. Ron Daviesasked the Secretary of State for Wales whether there are any appreciable differences in the services extended to each of the four counties in the Cardiff division of the Welsh Office agriculture department.
§ Mr. John Stradling ThomasThere is no difference in the services extended to each of the four counties in the Cardiff division of the Welsh Office agriculture department.
§ Mr. Ron Daviesasked the Secretary of State for Wales if there have been reductions in the numbers involved in the administration of the Welsh Office agriculture department in the last year; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. John Stradling ThomasThere was a 3.8 per cent. reduction in the administrative staff of Welsh Office agriculture department during the period 1 April 1983 to 1 April 1984.
§ Mr. Ron Daviesasked the Secretary of State for Wales if cuts in the administration of the Civil Service have significantly affected the performance of the Welsh Office agriculture department.
§ Mr. Ron Daviesasked the Secretary of State for Wales how many advisory officers are employed by the Welsh Office agriculture department.
§ Mr. John Stradling Thomas280 Agricultural Development and Advisory Service (ADAS) advisory staff are employed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in Wales, where ADAS acts on an agency basis for the Welsh Office agriculture department.
§ Mr. Ron Daviesasked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will give the total annual budget of the Welsh Office agriculture department for 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84 and the estimated expenditure for 1984–85 in cash terms and real terms using 1981–82 as the base year.
491W
§ Mr. John Stradling ThomasThe Supply Estimate provision for the relevant years is as follows:
£ million 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 Cash 45.5 53.7 51.3 44.2 1981–82 price 45.5 50.2 45.5 37.4 The figures for 1984–85 will be subject to further supplementary adjustment during the course of the current financial year.
§ Mr. Ron Daviesasked the Secretary of State for Wales if he will give the annual administrative cost of each division of the Welsh Office agriculture department for 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84 and the forecast for 1984–85 in cash terms and real terms using 1981–82 as the base year.
§ Mr. John Stradling ThomasManagement information systems to provide analyses of running costs within the Welsh Office are still in the course of development. At present information is not available at divisional level. For the Welsh Office Agriculture Department as a whole, however, administrative costs have been as follows:
£000s 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 Outturn Outturn Provisional Outturn Cash terms 5,350 5,616 6,105 1981–82 Constant price terms 5,350 5,256 5,416 The preceding figures do not include anything for the provision of accommodation services. The Property Services Agency started to charge for these services from 1 April 1983, and the provisional cost of services supplied to WOAD in 1983–84 is £1.37 million.
Table 1 to Class XVI, 7 of the Main Estimates indicates a broad estimate of £8.1 million for WOAD administration costs in 1984–85. This figure includes the provision of accommodation services.