§ Mr. Martyn JonesTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what money is available to each local authority to cover the expense of implementing EC directive 93/99; and from which fund it is provided; [28374]
(2) what is the average cost of retraining an unqualified trading standards officer to the level required by EC directive 93/99; [28376]
(3) what is the estimated total of (a) retraining costs and (b) redundancy costs for environmental health officers and trading standards officers affected by EC directive 93/99; [28372]
(4) how much money was (a) available to and (b) used by each local authority from the revenue support grant specifically aimed at food safety in each of the last five years; [28375]
(5) what is the average cost of retraining an unqualified environmental health officer to the level required by EC directive 93/95; [28377]
(6) what is the estimated number of environmental health officers and trading standards who will be affected by EC directive 93/99. [28373]
§ Mrs. BrowningFollowing the passage of the Food Safety Act 1990, £30 million which was indexed-linked, was added to the revenue support grant on a continuing basis to cover the extra costs arising to local authorities in discharging their responsibilities under the Act. The duties arising from the implementation of EC directive 93/99 are part of those responsibilities. The sum is not 649W ring-fenced and it is therefore for each local authority to decide upon the exact allocation of its share of the sum towards food law enforcement activities. Directive 93/99 does not impose any new training requirements for trading standards officers and environmental health officers engaged on food work. The level of training required for their assistants who are also authorised officers under the Food Safety Act, and the associated costs, will be determined by their individual employing local authority. It is not envisaged that there will be any redundancies in either profession. The exact numbers of officers in each profession involved in food control are not held centrally.