§ Mr. Wilsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many members of staff will be made redundant at each Scottish college of agriculture and at each agricultural research institute in Scotland during 1987; what levels of staff will exist in each college and institute at the end of 1987 compared with the present; and what compensation for redundancy is being offered to those whose contractual age of retirement is 65 years.
§ Mr. John MacKayThe total number of redundancies announced to date, to take effect from 31 March 1987, are as follows:
24W
Number Scottish Agricultural Colleges East of Scotland College of Agriculture 11
Number North of Scotland College of Agriculture Nil West of Scotland Agricultural College 2 Scottish Agricultural Research Institutes Scottish Institute for Agricultural Engineering 24 Macaulay Institute for Soil Research 12 The position remains under review but it is not possible to project the likely staffing levels required by the end of 1987.
While redundancy procedures, including compensation payments, do not apply to staff over 60 years of age certain members of the colleges' staff in that age category, with terms and conditions of employment up to age 65, have been advised that they will be retired early. This follows a request from the unions concerned that college management should apply the conditions of the Civil Service model redundancy agreement which require a review of the age of retirement practice within the area concerned before other staff savings are made.