§ Mr. JackTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many people will be involved in running his proposed computerised cattle passport scheme; and if he will publish a breakdown of the grades involved, together with their salary bandings. [18830]
Dr. John CunninghamThe British Cattle Movement Service will operate the Cattle Tracing System, providing a register of all cattle in Great Britain, their location and their movement history. Once it is fully operational, it will comprise an estimated 261 staff. The anticipated breakdown by grade and the salary bands are given in the following table.
Grade Estimated number Salary band (£) 6 1 32,100–51,256 7 1 26,100–41,718 SEO 1 20,700–32,812 HEO 6 16,300–22,147 EO 24 10,093–17,715 AO 153 8,285–10,695 AA 61 6,612–8,050 SGB2 14 6,612–8,050 Total 261
§ Mr. JackTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food under his proposed computerised cattle passport scheme(a) how many passports are estimated to be issued annually and (b) how many passports he estimates will be issued in each of the scheme's first three years. [18828]
Dr. John CunninghamIt is estimated that between 2.5 million and 3 million passports will be issued annually.
§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on his proposals for the cattle passport scheme. [18939]
§ Mr. RookerOn 30 July I announced that the Government was setting up a computerised cattle tracing system (CTS) which would be fully operational in 1998. The system will be administered by a new public sector organisation, the British Cattle Movement Service (BCMS), which will manage cattle movements and respond to database queries. On 7 October I also announced that the Government had decided to centralise the issue of cattle passports at the BCMS. The new scheme will give the UK one of the most advanced cattle tracing systems in Europe.