East of England Development Agency (Hansard, 27 March 2003)

§ Mr. Prisk
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many employees work in the East of England Development Agency; and what the employment costs including national insurance were in the last year for which figures are available. [104888]

§ Alan Johnson
Information on the income and expenditure of each of the Regional Development Agencies, including the average numbers of staff employed during the relevant year and details of salaries and wages, are set out in an annual report. Copies are placed in the Libraries of House and are available on the internet.
According to the most recent annual report and accounts of the East of England Development Agency, which is available on the internet at http://www.eeda.org.uk, the average number of staff 320W employed by the Agency during the year ending 31 March 2002 (including all agency and seconded staff) was 103.
For the same period the cost of staff salaries and wages was £3,992.000.

§ Mr. Prisk
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the administrative cost for the East of England Development Agency was in the year ending(a) April 2001, (b) April 2002 and (c) April 2003. [104889]

§ Alan Johnson
Information on the income and expenditure of each of the Regional Development Agencies, including administrative costs, are set out in annual report. Copies are placed in the Library and are available on the internet.
According to the most recent annual account, which is available at http://www.eeda.org.uk, salaries and wages and other administrative costs of the East of England Development Agency were £5.5 million in the year ending 31 March 2001 and £7.0 million in the year ending 31 March 2002. I understand that the total is forecast to be £7.6 million in the year ending 31 March 2003.

§ Mr. Prisk
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many board members of the East of England Development Agency previously worked for(a) Peterborough City Council and (b) local authorities in Hertfordshire. [104891]

§ Alan Johnson
Of the current board of the East of England Development Agency (EEDA) one board member, Dr Roger Ali, previously worked for Peterborough City Council. I understand that, in 1999–2000, Mr Ali was employed by the Council for one day per week in the Community Development Section to help establish a new African and Caribbean Community Centre/New Millennium Centre.
No other members of the current board of EEDA have previously worked for any Hertfordshire local authority.