HC Deb 07 April 1998 vol 310 cc214-7W
Mr. Charles Clarke

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list for the Central Science Laboratory sites at(a) Sand Hutton, York and (b) Colney Lane, Norwich the proportion of Central Science Laboratory work and income generated in 1997–98 from (a) research and development, (b) policy advice and surveillance and (c) technical support. [37946]

Mr. Rooker

[holding answer 6 April 1998]: Information is not available in the form requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. I am however able to provide the following analysis:

£ million
CSL York CSL Norwich Total
MAFF R&D 9.8 2.6 12.4
Other MAFF 7.0 2.4 9.4
Commercial 2.4 1.4 3.8
Total 19.2 6.4 25.6

These figures are subject to financial year end reconciliation.

Mr. Charles Clarke

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 31 March 1998,Official Report, column 504, what assumptions his Department has made of the redundancy costs for staff in non-mobile grades currently employed by the Central Science Laboratory in Norwich, if the Norwich laboratory were to be closed. [37987]

Mr. Rooker

(holding answer 6 April 1998]: In the previous relocation exercise, to initially occupy the Sand Hutton site, the Central Science Laboratory was successful in the redeployment of non-mobile staff at the various sites vacated. In the event of a decision to relocate the work undertaken at the Norwich laboratory to York every effort will be made to redeploy those non-mobile staff not relocating and it is not anticipated that there would be significant compulsory redundancies.

Mr. Charles Clarke

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the average cost of redundancy of a Central Science Laboratory, Norwich employee in a non-mobile grade; and by whom that cost will be borne. [37952]

Mr. Rooker

[holding answer 6 April 1998]: In the previous relocation exercise, to initially occupy the Sand Hutton site, the Central Science Laboratory was successful in assisting non-mobile staff to secure employment elsewhere. On this basis it is not envisaged that there would be significant compulsory redundancies should the decision be made to relocate the work undertaken at the Norwich laboratory to York. However, the average cost of redundancy for a non-mobile employee based at CSL Norwich would be £5,500 and such costs would be borne by the Department.

Mr. Charles Clarke

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 3 March 1998, Official Report, column 597, if he will list for the Central Science Laboratory sites at (a) Sand Hutton, York and (b) Colney Lane, Norwich the total office and laboratory floor area which his Department considers not capable of practical use. [37984]

Mr. Rooker

[holding answer 6 April 1998): The total area of a building is usually assessed as the "Gross Internal Area". The usable space within a building is normally assessed as the "Net Internal Area". The former is a measurement of each floor plate whereas the latter is a measurement which excludes such areas as plant rooms, toilets, stairwells, corridors, internal structural walls and columns, and some other related service facilities.

The estimated Gross Internal Area of laboratories and offices at the Central Science Laboratory in York is 26,500 square metres. The estimated Net Internal Area is 18,400 square metres. The usable space figure of 15,600 square metres given in my answer of 3 March 1998, Official Report, column 597, was the estimated Net Internal Area of laboratories and offices less some 2,800 square metres of additional very specialist facilities.

An estimate of the Gross Internal Area of laboratories and offices at Colney Lane, Norwich is not available and obtaining one would involve disproportionate cost. However, the estimated Gross Internal Area for the whole Colney Lane site is 5,000 square metres. The figure of 2,200 square metres given in my answer of 3 March was the estimated Net Internal Area of laboratories and offices.

Mr. Charles Clarke

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food for what reasons his Department did not accept the view of the Prior Options Review, and the study by independent consultants, as set out by his Department on 9 December 1996, that consolidation of the Central Science Laboratory in York was likely to lead to(a) a breaking of beneficial scientific links with the Institute of Food Research and (b) a loss of business previously based at Central Science Laboratory, Norwich. [37945]

Mr. Rooker

[holding answer 6 April 1998]: The Central Science Laboratory collaborates with institutes and universities in this country and within the EU. This demonstrates that geographical proximity is not a necessary requirement for productive collaboration.

Previous experience has shown that the impact on income from MAFF customers, the wider public sector and the private sector, as a result of relocation, is minimal in the short term. In the longer term benefits have been realised from an increase in the customer base.

Mr. Charles Clarke

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will state the net cash allocation initially agreed by his Department for the Central Science Laboratory for 1997–98 together with the final outcome cash allocation. [37941]

Mr. Rooker

[holding answer 6 April 1998): The net cash allocation originally agreed for 1997–98 for the Central Science Laboratory was £1.526m. This figure is subject to amendment throughout the year with approval from the MAFF Management Board. Financial year end reconciliation is presently in progress and the final outcome is not yet available.

Mr. Charles Clarke

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the(a) current and (b) anticipated private sector tenants of the Central Science Laboratory at Sand Hutton, York, together with the annual rent payable. [37947]

Mr. Rooker

[holding answer 6 April 1998]: There are no current leases but a lease is presently being negotiated with the Centre for Biomedical Accelerator Mass Spectrometry for occupation of a small part of the Sand Hutton site. There are no immediate plans to lease accommodation to other private sector tenants.

Mr. Charles Clarke

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 5 March 1998,Official Report, column 728, what estimates he has made of the average downtime for scientific staff relocated from Norwich to York, including time spent decommissioning, moving and recommissioning equipment. [38151]

Mr. Rooker

[holding answer 6 April 1998]: I have no reason to believe that the estimated down time would differ significantly from previous experience detailed in the answer to which my hon. Friend refers. The earlier major relocation to the new Central Science Laboratory site near York included the relocation of sophisticated analytical chemistry equipment similar to that at Norwich. The average down time for that relocation exercise was three weeks for each scientific team.

Mr. Charles Clarke

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many staff, and how many scientists, were employed by the Central Science Laboratory at Torry, Aberdeen, in January 1995. [37767]

Mr. Rooker

[holding answer 6 April 1998]: A total of 108 staff were employed by the Central Science Laboratory at Tony in January 1995. Of these, 67 were scientists.

Mr. Charles Clarke

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 25 March 1998,Official Report, column 188, on the Central Science Laboratory, how many non fee-earning scientists are employed by the Central Science Laboratory at (a) Sand Hutton, York and (b) Colney Lane, Norwich. [37827]

Mr. Rooker

[holding answer 6 April 1998]: There are 28 non fee-earning scientists employed at the CSL York laboratory and 2 at the Norwich laboratory. These staff are employed in management roles and support functions.

Mr. Charles Clarke

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 2 April 1998,Official Report, column 656, if he will set out the reasons for his Department's commitment of £170,000 of research resources to the York Laboratory of the CSL in 1998–99; and for the absence of any commitment for similar research to (a) York in 1997–98 and (b) Norwich in (i) 1997–98 and (ii) 1998–99. [38382]

Mr. Rooker

£170,000 was committed to CSL York as an interim arrangement following the relocation of the Microbiology Group from the Tony Research Station, Aberdeen. The purpose was to ensure continuing expertise at CSL York, delivering work of value to the Ministry, whilst CSL York secured additional sources of external funding. No such commitment was sought by York in 1997–98, or Norwich in 1997–98 and 1998–99.