HL Deb 12 February 2004 vol 656 cc189-92WA
Baroness Byford

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many quangos and agencies reported to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in each of the years 2000 to 2003; what they were called; and how many staff were employed by each. [HL1076]

Lord Whitty

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs was created in June 2001; the information given relates to the period since then.

Defra currently has responsibility for 18 executive non-departmental public bodies, 32 advisory bodies, four tribunals and two public corporations. These numbers have not changed significantly since the department was created. The lists below show all the non-departmental public bodies that have reported to Defra since June 2001. They include the number of staff employed in the public corporations and executive NDPBs; the advisory and tribunal NDPBs do not employ their own staff.

2001 2002 2003
Public Corporations
British Waterways Board 1,929 1,929 2,063
Covent Garden Market Authority 39 39 40
Executive NDPBs
Agricultural Wages Board for England and Wales 1.8 1.8 2
Agricultural Wages Committees for England and Wales 1.6 1.6 1.6
Apple and Pear Research Council1 0.5 1 —
British Potato Council 62 63 63
Countryside Agency 509.15 631.5 625.4
English Nature 783.5 825 1,030
Environment Agency 10,476 10,595 10.595
Food from Britain 26 26 26
Home-Grown Cereals Authority 43.5 47.3 50
Horticultural Development Council 15 13.5 12
Horticulture Research International 567 502.5 484
Joint Nature Conservation Committee 82 100 101
Meat and Livestock Commission 678 666 666
Milk Development Council 9 14 14
National Forest Company 15.5 17 17
Regional Flood Defence Committees. 0 0 0
Royal Botanic Gardens Kew 551 601 601
Sea Fish Industry Authority 147 145 145
United Kingdom Register of Organic Food Standards2 7 7 7
Wine Standards Board 10.5 10.5 10.5

  • Advisory NDPBs
  • Advisory Committee on Business and the Environment
  • Advisory Committee on Consumer Products and the Environment
  • Advisory Committee on Hazardous Substances
  • Advisory Committee on Organic Standards3
  • Advisory Committee on Packaging4
  • Advisory Committee on Pesticides
  • Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment
  • Agricultural Dwelling House Advisory Committees
  • Airborne Particles Expert Group5
  • Air Quality Expert Group6
  • Committee of Investigation for Great Britain
  • Committee on Agricultural Valuation
  • Committee on Products and Processes for Use in Public Water Supply
  • Consumers' Committee for Great Britain
  • Darwin Advisory Committee
    • WA 191
  • Expert Group on Cryptosporidium in Water Supplies
  • Expert Panel on Air Quality Standards
  • Farm Animal Welfare Council
  • Government-Industry Forum on Non-food Uses of Crops
  • Hill Farming Advisory Committee
  • Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB
  • Inland Waterways Amenity Advisory Council
  • Integrated Administration and Control System Appeals Panel7
  • National Expert Group on Transboundary Air Pollution8
  • Pesticide Residues Committee
  • Radioactive Waste Management Advisory Committee
  • Royal Commission on Environment Pollution
  • Science Advisory Council9
  • Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee
  • Sustainable Development Commission
  • Sustainable Development Education Panel10
  • Veterinary Products Committee
  • Veterinary Residues Committee
  • Water Regulations Advisory Committee
  • Zoos Forum
  • Tribunal NDPBs
  • Agricultural Land Tribunal
  • Commons Commissioners
  • Dairy Produce Quota Tribunal
  • Plant Varieties and Seeds Tribunal
  • 1Wound up 31 March 2003
  • 2Wound up 18 July 2003
  • 3Established 1 November 2003
  • 4Old committee was wound up on 31 December 2001, and a new committee of the same name established on 10 September 2002
  • 5Wound up early 2002
  • 6Established 1 July 2002
  • 7Established 1 April 2002
  • 8Wound up 31 August 2001
  • 9Established 5 January 2004
  • 10Wound up February 2003
  • Defra inherited six executive agencies at the time of its creation, all from the former MAFF. These agencies were:
    • Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS
    • Central Science Laboratory (CSL
    • Pesticides Safety Directorate (PSD
    • Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA
    • Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD), an
    • Intervention Board Executive Agency (IBEA)

The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) was created on 16 October 2001, and took over the functions and staff of the IBEA on 15 November 2001.

The number of permanent staff in each agency for each year since the creation of Defra is set out on the table below:

Agency 1 Oct 2001 1 Apr 2002 1 Apr 2003
CEFAS 480 500 530
CSL 580 610 650
PSD 190 180 170
RPA — 2,940 2,870
VLA 1,160 1,230 1,290
VMD 110 120 120
IBEA 1,080 — —