HC Deb 24 March 2003 vol 402 cc33-7W
Dr. Cable

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what funding is to be made available from the Office of Fair Trading Modernisation Fund for trading standards departments in local authorities in(a) 2003–04 and (b) 2004–05; and if she will make a statement. [102781]

Miss Melanie Johnson

The OFT does not have a modernisation fund. The Department of Trade and Industry's Modernisation Fund was launched in 2001 investing £30 million to raise the level of consumer protection at local level. £13 million will be available in 2003–04 with a further £2 million available, in 2004–05 to fund projects and initiatives under the themes of effective enforcement, information and advice to consumers, raising trading standards capabilities and consumer safety.

Dr. Cable

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many(a) members of staff and (b) full-time equivalent vacancies there are in each trading standards department; and if she will make a statement. [102785]

Miss Melanie Johnson

The total number of staff in Trading Standards Authorities in England and Wales as of 1 April 2002 was 3,749. Table 1 gives a breakdown for each authority; data are not available for seven authorities. Information on the total number of vacancies is not available.

The total number of staff in Trading Standards Authorities in Scotland as of March 2002 was 511.6. The number of vacancies at this time was 53. Table 2 gives a breakdown for each authority.

Table 1: Showing Trading Standards Staff Statistics at 1 April 2002—England and Wales
Local authority Total
London
Corporation of London 10.3
Inner London
Camden 12.0
Greenwich 12.0
Hackney 5.0
Hammersmith and Fulham 4.9
Islington 10.6
Kensington and Chelsea 6.0
Lambeth 2.5
Lewisham 11.0
Southwark 12.6
Tower Hamlets 23.1
Wandsworth 8.7
Westminster 22.0
Outer London
Barking and Dagenham 19.2
Barnet 14.5
Bexley 13.0
Brent and Harrow 35.0
Bromley 12.7
Croydon 21.8
Baling 15.3
Enfield 15.9
Haringey 10.0
Havering 16.2
Hillingdon 9.2
Hounslow 8.1
Kingston-upon-Thames 8.5
Merton 10.5
Newham 15.6
Redbridge 14.0
Richmond-upon-Thames 9.7
Sutton 12.2
Waltham Forest 13.5
Metropolitan Districts
Greater Manchester
Bolton 16.5
Bury 14.3
Manchester 26.0
Oldham n/a
Rochdale 14.1
Salford 12.8
Stockport 21.9
Tameside 13.3
Trafford n/a
Wigan 15.6
Merseyside
Knowsley 10.0
Liverpool 25.0
St. Helens 12.5
Sefton 15.5
Wirral 19.7
South Yorkshire
Barnsley 7.0
Doncaster 12.0
Rotherham 13.9
Sheffield 19.6
Tyne and Wear
Gateshead 15.5
Newcastle-upon-Tyne 9.5
North Tyneside 6.2
South Tyneside 10.2
Sunderland 12.0
West Midlands
Birmingham 78.2
Coventry 25.0
Dudley n/a
Sandwell 28.8
Solihull 15.0

Table 1: Showing Trading Standards Staff Statistics at 1 April 2002—England and Wales
Local authority Total
Walsall 24.2
Wolverhampton
West Yorkshire Joint 124.0
Unitary Authorities England
Bath and North East Somerset 11.4
Blackburn 10.9
Blackpool 16.0
Bournemouth 13.0
Bracknell Forest 6.1
Brighton and Hove 14.0
Bristol 15.8
Darlington 9.9
Derby 16.4
East Riding 22.1
Halton 9.4
Hartlepool n/a
Herefordshire 14.5
Isle of Wight 13.0
Kingston-upon-Hull 24.5
Leicester 28.5
Luton 16.4
Medway Council 8.4
Middlesbrough 25.4
Milton Keynes 15.5
North East Lincolnshire 15.8
North Lincolnshire 14.0
North Somerset 9.8
Nottingham 23.5
Peterborough 12.6
Plymouth 14.4
Poole 6.8
Portsmouth 13.7
Reading 12.2
Redcar and Cleveland 12.0
Rutland 0.3
Slough 9.1
South Gloucestershire 14.1
Southampton 13.6
Southend-on-Sea 10.6
Stockton-on-Tees 12.1
Stoke-on-Trent 20.0
Swindon 12.6
Telford and Wrekin 12.0
Thurrock 6.0
Torbay 9.2
Warrington 13.5
West Berkshire 10.1
Windsor and Maidenhead 11.0
Wokingham n/a
York 19.0
English Counties
Bedfordshire 26.1
Buckinghamshire 39.5
Cambridgeshire 37.9
Cheshire 48.2
Cornwall 53.6
Cumbria 43.0
Derbyshire 66.7
Devon 45.0
Dorset 28.5
Durham 41.0
East Sussex 25.0
Essex 68.9
Gloucestershire 43.1
Hampshire 69.3
Hertfordshire 44.2
Kent 80.0
Lancashire 83.8
Leicestershire 48.6
Lincolnshire 46.2
Norfolk 72.3

Table 1: Showing Trading Standards Staff Statistics at 1 April 2002—England and Wales
Local authority Total
North Yorkshire 56.5
Northamptonshire 49.0
Northumberland 41.5
Nottinghamshire 62.4
Oxfordshire 43.4
Shropshire 28.7
Somerset 44.8
Staffordshire 57.6
Suffolk 50.6
Surrey 73.2
Warwickshire 60.9
West Sussex 60.5
Worcestershire 49.0
Wiltshire 29.0
Wales
Blaenau Gwent n/a
Bridgend 13.0
Caerphilly 15.9
Cardiff 33.3
Carmarthenshire 17.0
Ceredigion 5.3
Conwy 11.0
Denbighshire 12.8
Flintshire 13.5
Gwynedd 14.3
Isle of Anglesey 10.7
Merthyr Tydfil 7.0
Monmouthshire 10.0
Neath Port Talbot 13.4
Newport 16.0
Pembrokeshire 12.9
Powys 20.2
Rhondda Cynon Taff N/a-
Swansea 18.6
Torfaen 10.0
Vale of Glamorgan 15.3
Wrexham 13.4
Totals for England and Wales 3,749.0

Source:

Data published in September 2002 by Chartered Institute of Public Finance. Some authorities did not submit the relevant information and so no data are shown against these.

Table 2: Showing Trading Standards Staff at March 2002—Scotland
Local authority Number of staff Number of current vacancies
Large
Aberdeen City 18.1 1.0
Aberdeenshire 21.2 6.0
Dumfries and Galloway 19.0 0.0
Edinburgh, City of 31.5 4.0
Fife 50.0 6.0
Glasgow City 57.5 2.0
Highland 25.5 1.0
North Lanarkshire 38.0 2.0
South Ayrshire 21.0 10.0
South Lanarkshire 32.8 0.0
Medium
Angus 10.0 4.0
Argyll and Bute 11.0 0.0
Dundee City 16.0 0.0
East Ayrshire 14.0 0.0
Inverclyde 12.5 2.0
Moray 9.0 2.0
North Ayrshire 13.0 0.0

Table 2: Showing Trading Standards Staff at March 2002—Scotland
Local authority Number of staff Number of current vacancies
Perth and Kinross 11.0 2.0
Renfrewshire 13.0 6.0
Scottish Borders 12.0 0.0
West Dunbartonshire 14.5 3.0
West Lothian 10.0 0.0
Small
Clackmannanshire 3.0 0.0
East Dunbartonshire 7.3 2.0
East Lothian 6.0 0.0
East Renfrewshire 5.6 0.0
Eilean Star 2.5 0.0
Falkirk 7.0 0.0
Midlothian 4.5 0.0
Orkney Islands 3.5 0.0
Shetland Islands 4.0 0.0
Stirling 7.6 0.0
Total 511.6 53

Source:

Accounts Commission report "Made to Measure?" published in October 2002