§ Mr. ConnartyTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what budget has been allocated for the enforcement of employment law in agriculture during the period covering the last two financial years; and how many enforcement officers are dedicated to investigating breaches of employment law in agriculture. [152096]
§ Alun MichaelThe only employment law enforced by Defra is the Agricultural Wages Order made by the Agricultural Wages Board for England and Wales under the Agricultural Wages Act 1948. Initial enforcement is undertaken by the five members of Defra's Agricultural Wages Team at an annual cost of some £133,000. This process is complaint led and complaints are investigated by Agricultural Wages Inspectors based in the Department's Rural Payments Agency. Some 37 Rural Payments Agency staff are authorised to investigate agricultural wage complaints. In the 2002–03 financial year it is estimated that agricultural minimum wage investigations undertaken by the Rural Payments Agency utilised staff resources of just over 0.5 staff years at a cost of £12,000. Rural Payments Agency staff inputs between April and December 2003 totalled some 0.25 staff years at a cost of £6,000.