HC Deb 13 December 1993 vol 234 cc445-7W
Mr. Allen

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what expenditure was incurred by Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution in each of the financial years 1991–92 and 1992–93, and what is the projected expenditure for 1993–94, on work contracted out in sampling and monitoring;

(2) what expenditure was incurred by Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution in each of the financial years 1991–92 and 1992–93, and what is the projected expenditure for 1993–94, on work contracted out in research on areas other than preparation for technical guidance;

(3) what expenditure was incurred by Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution in each of the financial years 1991–92 and 1992–93, and what is the projected expenditure for 1993–94, on work contracted out in information technology;

(4) what expenditure was incurred by Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution in each of the financial years 1991–92 and 1992–93, and what is the projected expenditure for 1993–94, on work contracted out in preparation for technical guidance;

(5) what expenditure was incurred by Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution in each of the financial years 1991–92 and 1992–93, and what is the projected expenditure for 1993–94, on work contracted out in management consultancy services other than information technology.

Mr. Yeo

The information is as follows:

£ million
1991–92 1992–93 Projected 1993–94
Sampling and monitoring 1.3 1.6 2.0
Research 6.0 4.9 4.0
Information technology 0.4 1.4 1.4
Technical guidance 0.6 1.0 0.4
Management consultancy 0.3 0.7 0.9

Mr. Allen

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the current minimum standards of qualification and industrial experience required by Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution for new entrants(a) to the pollution inspector grade and (b) to the assistant pollution inspector grade; and if he will make a statement on planned changes in these requirements.

Mr. Yeo

New entrant pollution inspectors and assistant pollution inspectors require a relevant honours degree or equivalent qualification. They must also possess relevant professional experience—normally at least five years for pollution inspectors and two years for assistant pollution inspectors—ideally in a process industry. In addition, they must hold a current United Kingdom driving licence. There are no plans to change these requirements.

Mr. Allen

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what were the salary costs of civil service staff working for Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution in each of the financial years 1991–92, 1992–93 and 1993–94, and what are the projected salary costs for 1993–94, for(a) inspectoral staff and (b) all other staff.

Mr. Yeo

The information is as follows—in £ million:

1991–92 Projected 1992–93 1993–94
Inspectors' salaries 4.5 5.3 7.2
Other salaries 2.1 3.3 4.6

Mr. Allen

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the number of external entrants to(a) the pollution inspector grade and (b) to the assistant pollution inspector grade in each year since 1984; and if he will make a statement on planned changes to the ratio of PIs to APIs at recruitment.

Mr. Yeo

The pollution inspector and assistant pollution inspector grades were not established until 1989 and 1990 respectively. Recruitment since then is as follows:

Number of external recruits
Date of recruitment campaign PI API
1989 8 —
1990 36 7
1991 32 9
1992 24 1

Recruitment from each campaign is geared to HMIP's needs at the time and not to any predetermined PI/API ratio.