HC Deb 13 April 1999 vol 329 cc224-9W
Mr. Yeo

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) where his predecessor, as minister, stayed on his visit to Strasbourg in July 1997; what was the cost of that accommodation; and what expenses he incurred during that visit; [75864]

(2) if he will list where ministers in his Department have stayed on their visits to Strasbourg and the costs of each of those stays since 1 May 1997. [75865]

Mr. Nick Brown

[holding answer 10 March 1999]: Ministers in this Department have made 3 overnight visits to Strasbourg since 1 May 1997, two by my right hon. Friend the Member for Copeland (Dr. Cunningham) and once by me in October 1998. The details are as set out in the table. All travel was judged to comply with the requirements of the Ministerial Code and the Civil Service Management Code.

Breakdown of 1998 overall performance markings
Box 1 Box 2 Box 3A Box 3B Box 4 Box 5
HEO 38 463 213 33 1 0
SEO 23 296 150 12 3 0
Grade 7 21 159 56 7 0 0
Grade 6 7 47 24 1 0 0
SCS 5 35 15 0 0 0
Sex
Female 100 1,400 880 155 5 0
Male 88 1,388 929 226 12 0
Ethnic Group
Minority 5 130 117 39 1 0
Unknown 8 94 52 15 1 0
White 175 2,564 1,640 327 15 0
Part-time
Full time 164 2,506 1,603 354 17 0
Part time 24 282 206 27 0 0
Disability
No disability 181 2,596 1,674 331 14 0
Disability 7 192 135 50 3 0
Pesticides Safety Directorate
Grade
AA 0 3 6 0 0 0
AO 2 15 1 3 0 0
EO 3 13 12 2 0 0
HEO 9 34 11 1 0 0
SEO 3 21 4 0 1 0
Grade 7 2 10 2 0 0 0
Grade 6 * * * * * *
SCS * * * * * *

Breakdown of 1998 overall performance markings
Box 1 Box 2 Box 3A Box 3B Box 4 Box 5
Sex
Female 10 43 16 1 1 0
Male 9 55 20 5 0 0
Ethnic Group
Minority * * * * * *
Unknown * * * * * *
White 19 94 36 5 1 0
Part time
Full time 16 88 33 6 1 0
Part time 3 10 3 0 0 0
Disability
No disability 17 85 30 5 0 0
Disability 2 13 6 1 1 0
Veterinary Laboratories Agency
Grade
AA 16 110 81 17 1 0
AO 19 168 111 26 5 0
EO 6 80 51 13 1 0
HEO 1 48 23 3 2 0
SEO 6 32 11 1 0 0
Grade 7 7 60 30 6 0 0
Grade 6 0 6 4 1 0 0
SCS * * * * * *
Sex
Female 28 277 164 36 2 0
Male 27 228 147 31 7 0
Ethnic Group
Minority 0 9 5 4 2 0
Unknown 1 16 6 3 0 0
White 54 480 300 60 7 0
Part Time
Full time 51 445 280 58 9 0
Part time 4 60 31 9 0 0
Disability
No Disability 52 477 289 62 8 0
Disability 3 28 22 5 1 0
Veterinary Medicines Directorate
Grade
AA 0 7 3 2 0 0
AO 2 14 5 1 0 0
EO 1 8 3 0 0 0
HEO 1 3 2 2 0 0
SEO 1 7 1 1 0 0
Grade 7 0 14 7 1 0 0
Grade 6 * * * * * *
SCS * * * * * *
Sex
Female 4 35 11 4 0 0
Male 1 21 13 3 0 0
Ethnic Group
Minority * * * * * *
Unknown * * * * * *
White * * * * * *
Part Time
Full time 5 51 21 6 0 0
Part time 0 5 3 1 0 0
Disability
No Disability * * * * * *
Disability * * * * * *

Notes

1. Data have not been provided in any group where there are less than 5 reports in total or where totals of less than 5 could be ascertained to ensure that individual anonymity is protected. Such entries have been marked with an asterisk.

2. Data in the 'disability' group comprise staff who have declared a disability. Those in the 'no disability' group comprise all others.

3. The definitions of the overall box markings for staff in grades AA-Grade 6 are as follows:

Box 1 Outstanding

Box 2 Performance significantly above requirements

Box 3a Performance fully effective in all respects

Box 3b Performance sufficient for the needs of the job

Box 4 Improvements to performance required in some respects

Box 5 Unsatisfactory

4. Staff in the Senior Civil Service also have 2+ and 3+ but no 3b markings. The 2+ data have been included with the Box 2 data and the 3+ data with the Box 3a data.

5. Data cover all reports with a 1998 report date and entered onto the computer system by 19 March 1999. Some of the 1998 reports will not yet be on the system and as such the data will be incomplete.

6. Data include leavers.

Letter from Johnston McNeill to Mr. John McDonnell, dated March 1999As Chief Executive of the Meat Hygiene Service (MHS) your question to the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food requesting information on the appraisal performance markings awarded to civil servants in 1998 broken by down (i) grade, (ii) gender, (iii) ethnicity, (iv) part-time/full-time working and (v) disability and whether the Cabinet Office's four fifths rule for detecting potential adverse impact was applied to the appraisal markings of civil servants in the 1998 report round, has been passed to me to reply as regards this Executive Agency. The breakdown of the 1998 overall performance markings for staff in the MHS is attached. The MHS is considering the data for any indications of possible adverse impact.

Breakdown of MHS performance markings
Box 1 Box 2 Box 3 Box 4 Box 5
MHS
Grade
TMHI 1 21 14 4 0
MTEC 4 72 92 11 3
PMI 2 60 24 2 1
MHI 16 363 302 27 3
SPMI 1 18 2 0 0
SMHI 6 87 40 2 0
OVS 0 6 7 0 0
Sex
Female 2 36 28 1 0
Male 28 591 453 45 7
Ethnic Group
Minority 0 2 11 2 0
Unknown 0 4 1 2 0
White 30 621 469 42 7
Commitment
Full time 30 608 462 46 7
Part time 0 19 19 0 0
Disability
No Disability 0 0 0 0 0
Disability 0 1 2 0 0

Note

Figures measured over 1,191 employees.

Abbreviations

TMHI Trainee Meat Hygiene Inspector

MTEC Meat Technician

PMI Poultry Meat Inspector

MHI Meat Hygiene Inspector

SPMI Senior Poultry Meat Inspector

SMHI Senior Meat Hygiene Inspector

OVS Official Veterinary Surgeon

Letter from P. I. Stanley to Mr. John McDonnell, dated March 1999The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has asked me to reply, in respect of the Central Science Laboratory (CSL), to your question concerning appraisal performance markings awarded to staff in 1998. The breakdown of 1998 overall performance markings for staff in CSL is set out on the attached sheet. My staff are considering current data, along with historic data, for any indications of possible adverse impact.

Breakdown of 1998 performance markings
Box 1 Box 2 Box 3a Box 3b Box 4 Box 5
Central Science Laboratory
Grade
Level 1 5 64 52 9 0 0
Level 2 8 123 107 19 3 0
Level 3 2 38 17 4 0 0
Level 4 3 16 10 2 1 0
Level 5 2 12 2 1 0 0
Gender
Male 11 137 112 23 3 0
Female 9 116 76 12 1 0
Ethnicity
Minorities Information not available
Unknown
Part/Full-time
Part-time 1 15 II 3 0 0
Full-time 19 238 177 32 4 0
Disability
Disability 0 2 2 0 1 0
No Disability 20 251 186 35 3 0

Notes

1. A breakdown by box markings is not presently available in terms of ethnicity.

2. The definitions of the overall box markings are as follows:

Box 1 Outstanding

Box 2 Performance significantly above requirements

Box 3a Performance fully effective in all respects

Box 3b Performance sufficient for the needs of the job

Box 4 Improvements to performance required in some respects Box 5 Unsatisfactory

3. Data covers all reports with a 1998 report date.

4. Data includes leavers.

5. Staff in the Senior Civil Service are included in the MAFF breakdown of 1998 overall performance markings.

Letter from Sarah Nason to Mr. John McDonnell, dated 23 March 1999The Minister has asked me to respond, in respect of the Farming and Rural Conservation Agency (FRCA), to your question about performance appraisal markings awarded to civil servants in 1998 for his Department and each agency in his Department, broken down by grade; gender; ethnicity; part-time/full-time working and disability; and whether the Cabinet Office's four-fifths rule for detecting potential adverse impact was applied to the appraisal markings of civil servants in the 1998 report round. I enclose a breakdown as requested of performance markings from the 1997–98 reporting year for staff in FRCA. FRCA staff are in different grades to those in the core department, but for your ease of reference we have converted the grade data to the nearest MAFF equivalents. Work is in hand to analyse this data for any indications of possible adverse impact.

Breakdown of overall performance markings in FRCA:1997–98 reporting year
1 2 3 4 5
Ethnicity
White Origin 21 198 112 1 0
Ethnic minority origin 0 2 0 0 0
Unknown 10 73 65 1 0
Disability
None or none known 31 271 176 2 0
Disability known 0 2 1 0 0
Full or part time
Full time 29 247 152 2 0
Part time 2 26 25 0 0
Gender
Male 16 177 100 2 0
Female 15 96 77 0 0
Grade and equivalents
AA 0 1 0 0 0
AO 7 55 37 0 0
EO 10 27 9 0 0
HEO 4 77 90 2 0
SEC, 8 76 31 0 0
G7 2 30 10 0 0
G6 0 7 0 0 0
Senior Civil Service * * * * *

Notes

*Data not provided as this would enable individuals' report markings to be ascertained.

Definitions of overall performance markings are as follows:

Box 1—Outstanding

Box 2—Very Good

Box 3—Satisfactory

Box 4—Improvement Necessary

Box 5—Unsatisfactory

Data covering 1997–98 reports input onto the Agency's computerised Human Resources System by 15 March 1999. Data do not include leavers.

Letter from P. W. Greig-Smith to Mr. John McDonnell, dated March 1999The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and food has asked me to reply to your question on appraisal performance markings in 1998. I am replying on behalf of the Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science (CEFAS). The breakdown of overall performance markings for staff in CEFAS is set out overleaf.

1 2 3A 3B Total
Current grade/overall assessment
6 1 8 6 0 15
7 1 20 7 0 28
AA 4 3 3 3 13
AO 11 41 8 2 62
EO 13 47 17 4 81
HEO 9 31 18 0 58
Industrial 8 18 6 0 32
SCS 1 1
SEO 2 28 8 0 38
Total 47 168 66 9 328
sex/oversll assessment
F 18 72 19 5 114
M 31 124 55 4 214
Total 49 196 74 9 328

1 2 3A 3B Total
Full/part time/overall assessment
Full 46 172 70 7 295
Part 3 24 4 2 33
Total 49 196 74 9 328
Ethnic origin/overall assessment
White 47 188 69 9 313
Ethnic
Minority 3 3
Unknown 2 5 5 0 12
Able bodies/overall assessment
Disabled 2 13 6 21
Able Bodies 47 183 68 9 307
Total 49 196 74 9 328

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