HC Deb 13 March 1998 vol 308 cc384-8W
Mr. Jenkins

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will estimate the number and percentage of civil servants in his Department, at each grade including and above higher executive officer who(a) attended university and (b) attended either Oxford or Cambridge University. [33056]

Mr. Morley

[holding answer 9 March 1998): The information requested for the core Department is as follows:

The Minister has asked me to reply to your question about the number and percentage of civil servants in the veterinary medicines directorate at each grade including and above HEO who attended a) university and b) either oxford or Cambridge university. The question relates to personnel matters for which I am responsible up to and including UG6. The details are set out in the following table which includes figures for the senior civil service provided by the department We do not hold these data in a readily accessible manner, and could only obtain them at disproportionate cost.

Letter from T. W..A. Little to Mr. Brian Jenkins, dated 13 March 1998: The Minister has asked me to reply to your questions on the number and percentage of staff at VLA who have attended university and attended either Oxford or Cambridge University.

Letter from Johnston McNeill to Mr. Brian Jenkins, dated 13 March 1998: As Chief Executive of the Meat Hygiene Service (MHS), your question to the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food enquiring about the number and percentage of civil servants at each grade including and above higher executive officer who attended university and who attended with Oxford or Cambridge university has been passed to me for reply with regard to this Executive Agency. Information on attendance at university is not separately identified on MHS computer records. I therefore regret that the MHS is unable to provide this information, except at disproportionate cost.

Letter from Professor P. I. Stanley to Mr. Brian Jenkins, dated 13 March 1998: The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has asked me to reply, in respect of the Central Science Laboratory (CSL), to your question the number of civil servants who attended university and specifically Oxford or Cambridge University. This type of information is not held in a readily accessible form and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

University attendees (as at 6 March 1998)
Department/Agency Total staff Number at University percentage Number at Oxford and Cambridge percentage
PSD
SCS 3 2 67 1 33
UG6 and equivalent 2 2 100 0 0
UG7 and equivalent 16 15 94 2 13
SEO and equivalent 32 29 91 0 0
HEO and equivalent 63 55 87 0 0

Mr. Jenkins

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will estimate the number of civil servants in his Department, at each grade, who received their schooling in the independent school sector. [33057]

Mr. Morley

[holding answer 9 March 1998]: Personnel information for the core Department does not include a breakdown on types of schools. They could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

The Executive Agencies are a matter for their Chief Executives, and I have asked the to reply to my hon. Friend direct.

Letter from J. M. Rutter to Mr. Brian Jenkins, dated 13 March 1998: The Minister has asked me to reply to your question about the number and percentage of civil servants in the Veterinary Medicines Directorate at each grade who received their schooling in the independent school sector. The question relates to personnel matters for which I am responsible. I am afraid that this information is not kept centrally and can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Letter from T. W. A. Little to Mr. Brian Jenkins, dated 13 March 1998: The Minister has asked me to reply to your question on the number of staff at VLA who received their schooling in the independent school sector. VLA personnel information does not include a breakdown on types of schools. The information would only be available at disproportionate cost.

Letter from P. W. Greig-Smith to Mr. Brian Jenkins, dated 13 March 1998: As Agency Chief Executive, I am responding to your questions to the Minister of Agriculture in relation to the Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science. Concerning the number and percentage of new staff who attended Oxford or Cambridge University, records are not retained on this basis. However, I can confirm that all new entrants to the CEFAS Agency, the majority of whom are within scientific grades, join through the regular Civil Service entrance procedure.

Letter from G. K. Bruce to Mr. Brian Jenkins, dated 13 March 1998: The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has asked me to reply, in respect of the Pesticides Safety Directorate (PSD), to your question concerning the percentage of civil servants within the Agency at each grade including and above higher executive officer who (a) attended university and (b) attended either Oxford or Cambridge University. The information you requested is as follows:

Letter from Johnston McNeill to Mr. Brian Jenkins, dated 13 March 1998: As Chief Executive of the Meat Hygiene Service (MHS), your question to the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food enquiring about the number of civil servants who received their schooling in the independent school sector has been passed to me to reply with regard to this Executive Agency. Information on attendance at independent schools is not separately identified on MHS computer records, I therefore regret that the MHS is unable to provide this information, except at disproportionate cost.

Letter from P. W. Greig-Smith to Mr. Brian Jenkins, dated 13 March 1998: As Agency Chief Executive, I am responding to your question to the Minister of Agriculture in relation to the Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science. With regard to the number of staff who received their schooling in the independent school sector, unfortunately personnel information does not include a breakdown on types of schools attended. This would only be available at disproportionate cost.

Letter from Professor P. 1. Stanley to Mr. Brian Jenkins, dated 13 March 1998: The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has asked me to reply, in respect of the Central Science Laboratory(CSL), to your question the number of civil servants who received independent schooling. This type of information is not held in a readily accessible form and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Letter from G. K. Bruce to Mr. Brian Jenkins, dated 13 March 1998: The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has asked me to reply, in respect of the Pesticides Safety Directorate (PSD), to your question concerning the number of civil servants within the Agency who received their schooling in the independent school sector. I regret that our personnel information does not include a breakdown on types of schools attended and this could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Letter from Michael Finnigan to Mr. Brian Jenkins, dated 13 March 1998: The Minister has asked me to reply to your question about the estimated number of civil servants within the Farming and Rural Conservation Agency (FRCA), who received their schooling in the independent school sector. We do not hold these data in a readily accessible manner, and could only obtain these at disproportionate cost.

Mr. Jenkins

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will estimate, for each of the last five years, the number and percentage of new civil servants in his Department who attended Oxford or Cambridge University, broken down into the number of entrants joining the Department from(a) the regular Civil Service entrance procedure, (b) the fast stream and (c) the private sector. [33058]

Mr. Morley

[holding answer 9 March 1998]: Information for each of the last five years could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

However, in the calendar year 1997, there were 1,464 new entrants in the core Department, two of whom attended Oxford or Cambridge University. One of these joined through the regular Civil Service entrance procedure and the other one through the fast stream.

Information on new entrants from the private sector could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

The Executive Agencies are a matter for their Chief Executives, and I have asked them to reply to my hon. Friend direct.

Letter from T.W.A. Little to Mr. Brian Jenkins, dated 13 March 1998: The Minister has asked me to reply to your question on the number and percentage of VLA staff, for each of the last five years, who attended Oxford or Cambridge University, broken down by those joining VLA via the regular Civil Service entrance procedure, the fast stream and the private sector. Information for each of the last five years could only be provided at disproportionate cost. However, in calendar year 1997 there were 166 new entrants in VLA of whom none went to Oxford of Cambridge University.

Letter from Johnston McNeill to Mr. Brian Jenkins, dated 13 March 1998: As Chief Executive of the Meat Hygiene Service (MHS), your question to the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food enquiring about the number and percentage of new civil servants who attended Oxford or Cambridge University broken down by various joining options. Information on attendance at university is not separately identifiable on MHS computer records. I therefore regret that the MHS is unable to provide this information, except at disproportionate cost.

Letter from Professor P.I. Stanley to Mr. Brian Jenkins, dated 13 March 1998: The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has asked me to reply, in respect of the Central Science Laboratory (CSL), to your question the number of civil servants who attended Oxford or Cambridge University and the route by which they joined the Civil Service. This type of information is not held in a readily accessible form and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Letter from P. W. Greig-Smith to Mr. Brian Jenkins, dated 13 March 1998: As Agency Chief Executive, I am responding to your question to the Minister of Agriculture in relation to the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science. The information requested in relation to attendance at Oxford or Cambridge University is not readily available. Records are not retained on this basis and the information could only be provided at disproportionate cost. You may find it helpful, however, to have details of CEFAS staff by grade and percentage who attended university. These are as follows:

Total Staff No. who attended University percentage
SCS or equivalent 2 2 100
UG6 or equivalent 12 11 92
UG7 or equivalent 33 27 82
SEO or equivalent 50 32 64
HEO or equivalent 68 36 53

Letter from J.M. Rutter to Mr. Brian Jenkins, dated 13 March 1998: The Minister has asked me to reply to your question about the number and percentage of new entrant civil servants joining the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) in each of the last five years who attended Oxford or Cambridge University. The question relates to personnel matters for which I am responsible. None of the new staff joining the VMD in the last five years attended either Oxford or Cambridge University.

Letter from Michael Finnigan to Mr. Brian Jenkins, dated 13 March 1998: The Minister has asked me to reply to your question about the estimated number, for each of the last five years, of new civil servants within the Farming and Rural Conservation Agency (FRCA), who attended Oxford or Cambridge University. We do not hold these data in a readily accessible manner, and could only obtain these at disproportionate cost.

Letter from G.K. Bruce to Mr. Brian Jenkins, dated 13 March 1998: The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has asked me to reply, in respect of the Pesticides Safety Directorate (PSD), to your question concerning the number of new civil servants within the Agency who attended Oxford or Cambridge University, broken down into the number of entrants who joined from (a) the regular Civil Service entrance procedure, (b) the fast stream, and (c) the private sector. I regret that the information for each of the last five years could only be provided at disproportionate cost. However, in calendar year 1997 there were 24 new entrants into PSD, none of whom went to Oxford or Cambridge University.