HC Deb 26 March 1998 vol 309 cc264-8W
Mr. Swinney

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list for(a) the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, (b) the Veterinary Laboratories Agency, (c) the Pesticides Safety Directorate, (d) the Veterinary Medicines Directorate, (e) the Farming and Rural Conservation Agency and (f)the Meat Hygiene Service (i) the location of the headquarters and (ii) other buildings used by it; what are the number of staff and its wage costs of the staff employed by each organisation at each site; and what are the estimated total receipts from MAFF for each organisation in the current financial year. [34782]

Mr. Morley

[holding answer 18 March 1998]The Information on the Executive Agencies requested by the hon. Member are the responsibility of their Chief Executives. I have asked them to reply to the hon. Gentleman direct.

Letter from T. W. A. Little to Mr. John Swinney, dated 26 March 1998: The Minister has asked me to reply to your question on the number and wage cost of staff at the Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA), together with the estimated total receipts from MAFF in the current year. VLA headquarters is located at the Central Veterinary Laboratory (CVL) in Addlestone. Smaller laboratories are located throughout England, Wales and Scotland. The attached table provides the individual locations of these laboratories together with details of the staff numbers and wage costs. The total receipts from MAFF in 1997/98 is estimated at £38.97 million, this includes payments from other MAFF agencies

The Number of Staff and Wage Costs for Staff at the VIA
VIA Sites 1>No. Staff Wage Costs 1997/98 Forecast outturn (£000)
CVL, Addlestone 671 14,758
Aberystwyth 9 209
Bury St. Edmunds2 29 715
Carmarthen 20 507
Langford 23 628
Lasswade 26 573
Luddington 36 664
Newcastle 24 496
Penrith 20 500
Preston 24 533
Shrewsbury 27 585
Starcross 24 574
Sutton Bonington 34 84*4
Thirsk 26 585
Truro 8 169
Winchester 30 660
Total 1,031 23,000
Notes to the table:
1Numbers as at 1 September 1997 which indicates the average number in post for the current year
2 Includes two staff at Cambridge Regional Office
3 Includes two staff at Bristol Regional Office

Letter from P. W. Greig-Smith to Mr. John Swinney, dated 26 March 1998: As Agency Chief Executive, I am responding to your question to the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries & Food in relation to the Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science (CEFAS). The CEFAS estate comprises four main Laboratory sites, with three additional small units. The addresses of these are shown in the table below, together with the number of staff employed at each site, and the wage costs relating to each site.

Site Type Number of staff employed on 13 March 1998' Wage costs Forecast outturn 1997/98 (£000)
CEFAS Laboratory Headquarters 310 7677
Pakefield Road and Laboratory
Lowestoft
Suffolk NR33 0HT
CEFAS Laboratory Laboratory 64 1211
Remembrance Ave
Burnham-on-Crouch
Essex CMO 8HA
Site Type Number of staff employed on 13 March 1998' Wage costs Forecast outturn 1997/98 (£000)
CEFAS Laboratory Laboratory 65 1314
The Nothe
Barrack Road
Weymouth
Dorset DT4 8UB
CEFAS Laboratory Laboratory 23 394
Benarth Road
Conwy
Conwy LL32 8UB
CEFAS Laboratory Laboratory 3 56
West Strand
Whitehaven
Cumbria CA28 7LY
CEFAS-Stores Unit 19–29 Pinbush Road Net store and storage 3 36
Pakefield
Lowestoft
Suffolk NR33 7NL
CEFAS-Quay Store Commercial Road Ships quay and storage 0 0
Lowestoft, Suffolk
1Includes marine staff

With regard to the second part of your question, the estimated total receipts from MAFF for the current financial year amount to £21.9 million.

Letter from J. M. Rutter to Mr. John Swinney, dated 26 March 1998: The Minister has asked me to reply to your question about the location of the headquarters and other buildings, the number and cost of staff employed and the estimated receipts from MAFF for the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD). The VMD's headquarters is located at New Haw, Addlestone, Surrey, and there are no other sites. The current number of staff employed is 112, and the forecast of pay costs, including superannuation for the current financial year is £3,079,000. The estimated receipts from MAFF in the current financial year is £2,688,000.

Letter from Michael Finnigan to Mr. John Swinney, dated 26 March 1998: The Minister has asked me to reply on behalf of the Farming and Rural Conservation Agency to your question about the location of this Agency's headquarters and other buildings, our staff numbers, and annual salary bill. The Headquarters of the Farming and Rural Conservation Agency is Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, London. The annual salary bill of the 24 FRCA staff located in this building is £691,000. The location of other buildings used by the Agency, with staff numbers and annual salary bill, is:

£
Aberystwyth 54 877,424
Bristol 65 1,182,783
Bury St. Edmunds 12 310,141
Caernarfon 6 66,894
Cambridge 68 1,319,770
Cardiff 13 264,604
Carmarthen 8 111,768
Crewe 20 356,952
Guildford 9 178,123
£
Kings Lynn 1 22,531
Leeds 84 1,369,326
Lincoln 15 336,012
Newcastle 12 241,998
Northallerton 13 250,022
Norwich 1 12,500
Nottingham 8 151,716
Oxford 20 416,945
Penrith 16 317,684
Preston 3 69,919
Reading 25 446,671
Ruthin 6 114,701
Starcross 31 615,865
Taunton 31 626,428
Truro 1 11,500
Winchester 1 22,499
Wolverhampton 46 867,939
Worcester 24 446,014
Wye 8 175,827

The estimated total receipts from MAFF for the current financial year are £18.1 million.

Letter from G. K. Bruce to Mr. John Swinney, dated 26 March 1998: The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has asked me to reply to your question concerning the location, number of staff and wage costs of the Pesticides Safety Directorate (PSD). PSD is located on a single site at the address below. No other buildings are occupied.

  1. Mallard House
  2. Kings Pool
  3. 3 Peasholme Green York
  4. YO1 2PX

PSD employs 200 staff, with a wage cost of £4.9 million. The estimated total receipts from MAFF for policy work undertaken in 1997/98 will be £4.95 million.

Letter from Johnston McNeill to Mr. John Swinney, dated 26 March 1998: As Chief Executive of the Meat Hygiene Service (MHS), your question to the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food enquiring about the location of the headquarters and other buildings of the MHS; the number of staff and wage costs of the staff employed at each site and the estimated total receipts from MAFF for the MHS in the current financial year. All of the offices of the MHS are based in government buildings. The MHS "rents" its accommodation space from the government department concerned. The headquarters of the MHS are in York where the Chief Executive of the MHS and the supporting functions of Operations, Finance, Human Resources and Information Technology are based. MHS services are managed by six Regional Offices located in Edinburgh, York, Wolverhampton, Cambridge, Cardiff and Taunton. The estimated number of staff and the estimated gross pay costs for the year as at 31 March 1998 for MHS Headquarters and each Regional Office are as follows:

£000
HQ NorthCentral S&ES&WWalesScotland
Staff68360267260223197183
Pay Costs1,3577.8325,5746,0664,9724,4894,292
The MHS is responsible for enforcing meat hygiene, inspection and animal welfare at slaughter legislation in licensed fresh meat premises in Great Britain. The majority of MHS Regional staff are Official Veterinary Surgeons and Meat Hygiene Inspectors who are based at licensed premises. A small team of managerial and administrative staff manage operations from each Regional Office.

The MHS is required to cover the full costs of providing its inspection service from its customers. The Agency's major customers are industry, core-MAFF and the Intervention Board. The MHS charges plant operators for the cost of providing its meat hygiene and inspection and animal welfare service. However, the MHS also carries out various controls in premises on behalf of MAFF and the Intervention Board. For MAFF, these concern mainly the enforcement of Specified Risk Material controls in licensed premises, the costs of which are currently met by government. The MHS's estimated receipts from MAFF for 1997/98 are approximately £20 million.

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