§ Dr. IddonTo ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what action has been taken to bring more people from science and technology backgrounds into the Civil Service on secondments as recommended by the Council for Science and Technology in its review in 1999 of Science and Technology Across Government. [133944]
§ Mr. AlexanderThe Government are committed to developing a modern, flexible and outward focused Civil Service that works in partnership with all sectors of society. A key tool in meeting that commitment is the Interchange initiative, which promotes and encourages
730W
Main farm type—1993 to 2002: June agricultural census—England Main farm types 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 Cereals 20,443 20,212 19,960 20,379 21,085 General cropping 13,318 13,031 12,909 12,828 11,696 Specialist fruit 1,589 1,578 1,408 1,435 1,492 Specialist glass 3,472 3,346 3,034 2,808 2,743 Other horticulture 3,593 3,307 2,990 2,858 3,227 Specialist pigs 2,441 2,342 2,137 2,080 2,236 Specialist poultry 2,903 2,801 2,445 2,557 2,959 Mixed pigs and poultry 129 121 111 110 152 Dairy—LFA 3,797 3,673 3,421 3,213 2,996 Dairy—lowland 16,987 16,906 16,211 15,691 15,011 Specialist sheep—SDA 2,641 2,524 2,390 2,320 2,318 Specialist beef—SDA 1,805 1,725 1,737 1,703 1,618 Mixed cattle and sheep—SDA 3,537 3,395 3,257 3,003 2,843 Cattle and sheep—DA 3,365 3,266 3,129 2,941 2,866 Cattle and sheep—Lowland 31,880 32,589 31,024 31,173 30,878 Cropping and dairy 1,714 1,615 1,604 1,578 1,634 Cropping cattle and sheep 6,155 6,221 6,256 6,128 5,858 Cropping pig and poultry 1,191 1,161 1,109 1,106 1,118 Cropping and mixed livestock 633 666 658 572 602 Mixed livestock 2,009 1,940 1,799 1,896 2,121 Specialist mushrooms 173 183 167 155 146 Specialist hardy nursery stock 1,094 1,077 1,126 1,188 1,104 Specialist set-aside 1,309 1,238 1,104 1,044 937 Specialist grass and forage 17,563 18,260 16,506 16,638 16,897 Specialist goats 520 512 355 359 337 Specialist horses 8,301 8,879 8,590 9,149 9,166 Non-classifiable—fallow 401 406 296 283 285 Non-classifiable—other 459 452 379 443 452 All types 153,422 153,426 146,112 145,638 144,777 the exchange of people and good practice between the Civil Service and other organisations. Most organisations from anywhere in the country can take part and all sectors of the economy are encouraged to do so.
Individual Departments are directly responsible for the staff they bring in to help them deliver their objectives, including secondees. Information on secondments into the Civil Service is recorded separately by Departments. The Cabinet office holds aggregate data, though not specifically on secondees from a science and technology background.
Since financial year 1998–99, there have been, on average, around 4,000 instances of interchange taking place each year of which about half are inward to the Civil Service.