HC Deb 31 July 1998 vol 317 cc734-7W
Mr. Chope

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many(a) men and (b) women aged over 60 years were employed by (i) his Department and (ii) his Department's agencies on 1 January. [53073]

Mr. Morley

[holding answer 31 July 1998]: In the core Department, there were 89 men and 72 women aged over 60 years employed on 1 January. Chief Executives of the Department's Agencies will be replying direct to the hon. Member with information on their staff.

Mr. Chope

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many(a) men and (b) women employed by (1) his Department and (2) his Department's agencies have contracts of employment which permit them to retire after their 60 birthday. [53050]

Mr. Morley

[holding answer 30 July 1998]: In the core Department, the normal retirement age for staff is 60 years. However, staff in non-mobile grades (i.e. administrative assistant, administrative officer level), secretarial and office support grades, industrial grades and farm workers are permitted to remain in service until the age of 65. Staff in mobile grades (i.e. executive officer level and above) with less than 20 years pensionable service may also remain in service beyond the age of 60. Service beyond the age of 60 has to be authorised and is, subject to efficiency fitness and the Ministry's needs.

In the core Department, there are currently 1,485 men and 2,216 women in non-mobile grades where retirement after 60 years of age is permissible.

Chief Executives of the Department's Agencies will be replying direct to the hon. Member with information on their staff.

Letter from Sarah Nason to Mr. Christopher Chope, dated 31 July 1998: Mr. Nick Brown has asked me to reply, in respect of the Farming and Rural Conservation Agency (FRCA), to your question about how many men and women, aged over 60 years, were employed on 1 January. In FRCA there were 3 men and 1 woman employed on 1 January.

Letter from Sarah Nason. to Mr. Christopher Chope, dated 31 July 1998: Mr. Nick Brown has asked me to reply, in respect of the Farming and Rural Conservation Agency (FRCA), to your question about how many men and women employed have contracts of employment which permit them to retire after their 60th birthday. In FRCA, which has the same retirement arrangements as core MAFF, there are currently 40 men and 99 women in grades where retirement after 60 years of age is permissible.

Letter from G. K. Bruce to Mr. Christopher Chope, dated 31 July 1998: The Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, has asked me to reply to your question concerning the number of men and women employed by the Pesticides Safety Directorate (PSD) who have contracts of employment which permit them to retire after their 60th birthday. The rules which apply in PSD are the same as those applied in the parent Department. The normal retirement age for staff is 60 years. However, staff in non-mobile grades, ie Administrative Assistants, Administrative Officers and their scientific equivalents and secretarial grades are permitted to remain in service until the age of 65. Staff in more senior grades, ie Executive Officers and above and their scientific equivalents, with less than 20 years pensionable service may also remain in service beyond the age of 60. Service beyond the age of 60 has to be authorised and is subject to efficiency, fitness and the needs of the Agency. In the Pesticides Safety Directorate, there are currently 16 men and 34 women in grades where retirement after 60 years of age is permissible.

Letter from G. K. Bruce to Mr. Christopher Chope, dated 31 July 1998: The Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has asked me to reply to your question concerning the number of men and women employed by the Pesticides Safety Directorate aged 60 years and over on 1 January. In the Pesticides Safety Directorate, there were no men or women aged over 60 years employed on 1 January.

Letter from J. M. Rutter to Mr. Christopher Chope, dated 31 July 1998: The Minister has asked me to reply to your question about the number of a) men and b) women in the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) with contracts of employment which allow them to retire after their 60th birthday, as this is an operational matter for which I have responsibility. The normal retirement age for staff in the VMD is 60 years. However, staff in administrative, secretarial and office support grades are permitted to remain in service until the age of 65. Staff in more senior grades with less than 20 years pensionable service may also remain in service beyond the age of 60. Service beyond the age of 60 for all staff has to be authorised and is subject to efficiency, fitness and the VMD's needs. In VMD there are currently 7 men and 32 women in grades where retirement after 60 years of age is permissible.

Letter from J. M. Rutter to Mr. Christopher Chope, dated 31 July 1998: The Minister has asked me to reply to your question about the number of a) men and b) women aged over 60 employed in the Veterinary Medicines Directorate on 1 January, as this is an operational matter for which I am responsible. On 1 January 1998 there were 3 men and no women aged over 60 employed in the Veterinary Medicines Directorate.

Letter from P. I. Stanley to Mr. Christopher Chope, dated 31 July 1998: The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has asked me to reply, in respect of the Central Science Laboratory (CSL), to your questions concerning the number of staff aged over 60 years and those who have contracts that permit them to retire after their 60th birthday. On 1 January 1998, CSL employed 5 staff who were over the age of 60. All of these were men. The normal retirement age for the majority of staff employed by CSL is 60. However, there are 71 staff working in administrative, secretarial and support posts who, by virtue of their grade, are permitted to continue in post beyond the age of 60. 14 of these are men and 57 are women. In addition, staff in more senior grades with less than 20 years pensionable service may also remain in post beyond the age of 60, subject to work, efficiency and fitness requirements.

Letter from P. W. Greig-Smith to Mr. Christopher Chope, dated 31 July 1998: As Agency Chief Executive, I am responding to your questions to the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries & Food about employment beyond the age of 60, in relation to the Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science. In the CEFAS Agency, there were 10 men and 3 women aged over 60 years employed on 1 January 1998. The normal retirement age for staff employed by CEFAS is 60 years. However, staff in administrative, secretarial, office support and industrial grades and Assistant Scientific Officers are permitted to remain in service until the age of 65. Staff in more senior grades with less than 20 years service may also remain in service beyond the age of 60. Service beyond the age of 60 is subject to efficiency, fitness and the Ministry's needs. At CEFAS, there are currently 101 men and 101 women in grades where retirement after 60 years of age is permissible.

Letter from T. W. A. Little to Mr. Christopher Chope, dated 31 July 1998: The Minister has asked me to reply to your question on how many men/women aged over 60 years were employed by his Department's Agencies on 1 January. In the Veterinary Laboratories Agency there were 19 men and 19 women aged over 60 years employed on 1 January 1998.

Letter from T. W. A. Little to Mr. Christopher Chope, dated 31 July 1998: The Minister has asked me to reply to your question on how many men/women employed by his Department's Agencies have contracts of employment which permit them to retire after their 60th birthday. In the Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA) the normal retirement age for staff is 60 years. However, staff in VLA Pay Bands F, F(1) and G, including administrative, secretarial and scientific support staff and animal technicians are permitted to remain in service until the age of 65. Staff in higher Pay Bands with less than 20 years pensionable service may also remain in service beyond the age of 60. Service beyond the age of 60 has to be authorised and is subject to efficiency, fitness and Agency's needs. In the VLA there are currently 210 men and 453 women in Pay Bands F, F(1) and G where retirement after 60 years of age is permissible.

Letter from Johnston McNeil to Mr. Christopher Chope, dated 31 July 1998: As Chief Executive of the Meat Hygiene Service, your question to the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food regarding the number of men and women employed who have contracts of employment which permit them to retire after their 60th birthday has been passed to me to respond on behalf of this Executive Agency. The Meat Hygiene Service was established on 1 April 1995 as an Executive Agency of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF). It took over from local authorities the responsibility for enforcing meat hygiene, inspection and animal welfare at slaughter legislation in licensed fresh meat premises in Great Britain. The majority of MHS staff transferred from local authorities with their existing contractual benefits under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Act 1981. As a consequence the majority of MHS employees are members of the Local Government Pension Scheme which has a retirement age of 65. In the MHS, 1308 men and 164 women have contracts of employment with a retirement age of 65.

Letter from Johnston McNeil to Mr. Christopher Chope, dated 31 July 1998: As Chief Executive of the Meat Hygiene Service (MHS), your question to the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) regarding the number of men and women employed who are aged over 60 has been passed to me to reply on behalf of this Executive Agency. The MHS employs 84 men and 1 woman who are aged over 60.