§ Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domerasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many staff were employed by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in each region in 2000, 2001 and this year to administer the Countryside Stewardship scheme; and of these how many in each region were primarily concerned with the access element of the scheme. [HL4464]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Whitty)The table below shows the number of staff employed by the department in each region in 2000, 2001 and this year to administer the Countryside Stewardship scheme.
Region 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 East 44 36 44 East Midlands 56 36 34 North East 44 11 24 North West 27 24 37 Yorkshire and Humberside 33 44 48 South East 56 42 52 West Midlands 30 46 40 South West 69 68 78 Total 359 3071 3572 1 Reduction due to staff temporarily transferring to FMD duties. 2 Estimated figure from the Rural Development Service business plan. The access element of the scheme is not administered as a separate element of the scheme. Although there are designated national and regional access specialists, this role only forms part of a range of scheme work for which they have responsibility.