§ Mrs. Ann Wintertonasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many visits per day he expects to be carried out on average by his Department's inspectors as statutory inspections carried out under the Milk and Dairies and Milk (Special Designation) (Charges) Regulations (S.I., 1987, No. 212); and how long he estimates an inspector's visit made under the milk and dairies regulations last on average.
§ Mr. Gummer[pursuant to his reply, 10 March 1987, c. 146]: Dairy husbandry advisory officers achieve between three and four visits per day but this is an average. In practice, DHAOs aim to devote complete days to farm visiting (during which they normally cover five farms) after which between one third and one half of a day is required for writing up the results and preparing for the next block of visits. Five visits per day is equivalent to approximately one and half hours per visit, which includes travelling time.
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§ Mrs. Ann Wintertonasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if he will give details of (a) the proposed salary structure and anticipated average salary and (b) the total number of inspectors employed to carry out visits under the Milk and Dairies and Milk (Special Designation) (Charges) Regulations (S.I. 1987, No. 212) whole-time equivalent;
(2) how many further inspectors are to be employed by his Department to carry out visits under the Milk and Dairies and Milk (Special Designation) (Charges) Regulations (S.I., 1987, No. 212).
§ Mr. Gummer[pursuant to his reply, 10 March 1987, c. 146]: The salary scales for the various grades of dairy husbandry advisory officers are as follows:
£ Grade I 15,410–20,741 Grade II 12,595–15,893 Grade III 8,463–13,412 Grade IV 6,711–9,225 The complement for these grades is currently 104 and they are expected to devote 45.7 man hours (mostly at Grade III level) to statutory work in 1987–88.
I have no plans to increase these numbers.
§ Mrs. Ann Wintertonasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will estimate the number of farms which fall into the smaller farms category as defined by the Milk and Dairy and Milk (Special Designation) (Charges) Regulations (S.I., 1987, No. 212).
§ Mr. Gummer[pursuant to his reply, 10 March 1987, c. 146]: According to 1986 census data, approximately 6,500 holdings and between one and 19 dairy cows and will therefore qualify for the lower rate of charge.