§ Mrs. Ann WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the complement of staff working at her Department's regional office at Exeter was on(a) 1 November 2001 and (b) 1 August 2001. [12826]
§ Mr. MorleyTwo parts of the Department operate from Clyst House, Exeter: namely the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) and the Foot and Mouth Disease Office.
The RPA office at Exeter had 395 staff on 1 August 2001 and 429 staff on 1 November 2001. The staff numbers were increased over this period to deal with work that was transferred to Exeter from RPA offices at Bristol, Worcester and Reading.
Precise figures for the number of staff at the Foot and Mouth Disease Office at Exeter on the dates specified are unavailable. However, the number of staff was broadly unchanged over the period in question at around 300, approximately two thirds of whom were casual appointments.