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Recruitment

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the President of the Board of Trade how much his Department spent in recruiting staff to his Department and its executive agencies during the 1994-95 and 1995-96 financial years; and how many staff were recruited in each of these years. [31401]

Mr. John M. Taylor: I have asked the agencies to reply directly to the hon. Member. As for the remainder of my Department, in 1994-95 46 staff were recruited to permanent positions at a cost of £386, 129. All these staff were at grade 7 or below. In 1995-96, 62 staff were recruited to permanent positions at grade 7 level and below, at a cost of £392,898. In addition, in 1995-96 three senior staff were recruited at a total cost of £104,746.

Letter from Jim Norton to Mr, Brian Donohoe, dated 18 June 1996:

Question: To ask the President of the Board of Trade, how much his Department spent in recruiting staff to his Department and its executive agencies during the 1994-95 and 1995-96 financial years; and how many staff were recruited in each of these years.
I have been asked to answer the question your raised on behalf of the Radiocommunications Agency.
RA expenditure on staff recruitment was £30,313 in 1994/95, and £35,935 in 1995/96. 10 staff were recruited in 1994/95 and 23 in 1995/96.

Letter from Peter Joyce to Mr. Brian Donohoe, dated 18 June 1996:

The President of the Board of Trade has asked me to reply to your question about the amount spent by The Insolvency Service in recruiting staff during the 1994/95 and 1995/96 financial years; and how many staff were recruited in each of these years.
The numbers and the associated costs for the recruitment of permanent staff into The Insolvency Service were as follows:
1994/95: 27 staff at a total of £42,830
1995/96: 1 member of staff at a cost of £284.

Letter from John S. Holden to Mr. Brian Donohoe, dated 18 June 1996:

I have been asked by the President of the Board of Trade to reply on behalf of Companies House to your recent Parliamentary Question (as/2400) concerning recruitment numbers and costs.
The numbers recruited during 1994-95 and 1995-96 were as follows, itemised by grade:
Recruitment Analysis: By substantive grade. Financial years 1994-95 and 1995-96

18 Jun 1996 : Column: 447

	1994-95		1995-96
	Heads	FTE	Heads	FTE
G7	--	--	2	1.65
EO	--	--	1	1
AO	--	--	4	4
AA	35	29.27	87	76.56
SGB2	69	58.38	61	49.83
Totals	104	87.65	155	133.0

I should explain that the majority of those particularly at the AA and SGB2 grades were casual staff on short term appointments.
All recruitment at Companies House is undertaken by our Personnel Section. Recruitment costs are not itemised separately but are included within the general costs of that section.

Letter from Ron Marchant to Mr. Brian Donohoe, dated 18 June 1996:

In the absence of the Comptroller General on official business, I am responding in relation to the Patent Office to the your parliamentary question to the President of the Board of Trade about staff recruitment. The information requested is as follows:
(i) 1994/95
The Patent Office recruited two fixed-term Network Services Technicians at a cost of £1,628.55, which is for the advertisement in the "Western Mail" and "Wales on Sunday".
In addition, we recruited six graduates as patent examiners at a total cost of £5,722.07 made up from:
Advertising and Recruitment Fairs: £3,600.00
Recruitment and Assessment Services: £1,185.00
Expenses for candidates at interview boards: £937.07
(ii) 1995/96
In this period we recruited 12 graduates for the patent examiner grades at a cost of £13,632.58 made up from:
Advertising and Recruitment Fairs: £7,362.23
Hiring Board Chairman: £1,856.50
Expenses for those attending interviews: £1,300.00
Entry in graduate recruitment directory: £3,113.75

Letter from Zelie Armstrong to Mr. Brian Donohoe, dated 18 June 1996:

The President of the Board of Trade has asked the National Weights and Measures Laboratory to reply to your questions about the cost and the number of staff recruited in 1994-95 and 1995-96.
The figures you require are as follows:
1994-95 3 staff recruited; £662.50
1995-96 2 staff recruited; £1,359.00

Ostrich Farming

Mr. David Shaw: To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) if he will list all companies his Department's investigations showed to be connected to directors and others involved with the Ostrich Farming Corporation Ltd. indicating those companies currently under investigation by (a) his Department and (b) other public bodies; [32929]

(2) what investigations his Department is making into companies which obtained sales and marketing commissions from the Ostrich Farming Corporation Ltd. and the methods used by those companies to earn those commissions. [32932]

18 Jun 1996 : Column: 448

Mr. John M. Taylor: Such inquiries are confidential and I cannot comment on whether the companies closely associated with Ostrich Farming Corporation Ltd. in the marketing of ostriches have or are being investigated.

Mr. Shaw: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what action his Department is taking to protect the interests of owners of ostriches purchased from the Ostrich Farming Corporation Ltd. [32930]

Mr. Taylor: Following inquiries under part XIV of the Companies Act 1985, the Secretary of State presented a petition for the winding-up of the company in the public interest and, at the same time, sought and shortly afterwards obtained the appointment of the official receiver as provisional liquidator of the company. The official receiver is in communication with the farming companies to which the company contracted out the day-to-day care of such ostriches and with owners and representatives of owners, and is continuing to seek the directions of the court in relation to this.

Mr. Shaw: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what assessment he has made of the compliance of the accounting records kept by the directors of the Ostrich Farming Corporation Ltd. with Companies Act legislation; and what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the company's records of assets and liabilities. [32933]

Mr. Taylor: Following inquiries under part XIV of the Companies Act 1985 the Secretary of State presented a petition to the court for the winding-up of the company in the public interest and has applied for and obtained the appointment of the official receiver as provisional liquidator of the company. The official receiver has taken into his possession the known books and records, including those which are computerised and will, if appropriate, report on any deficiencies he may find in such records to the appropriate authority.

Mr. Shaw: To ask the President of the Board of Trade on how many occasions the marketing of ostriches by the Ostrich Farming Corporation Ltd. and the operation of the company contravening (a) financial services, (b) companies and (c) banking legislation. [32931]

Mr. Taylor: If the Department discovers possible contraventions of legislation in the course of its inquiries, it considers these carefully and, if appropriate, takes action or reports its findings to those with responsibility for such action, but I cannot comment on individual cases.

Mr. Shaw: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what investigations he has conducted into newspapers which carried advertisements for the sale of ostriches by the Ostrich Farming Corporation Ltd. (a) in respect of their carrying out appropriate investigations prior to accepting the advertising and (b) the compliance of the advertisements with the financial services legislation. [32928]

Mr. Taylor: In respect of (a) none.

Under the self-regulatory system of advertising controls in the UK, it is the responsibility of the Advertising Standards Authority to ensure that the advertising industry complies with its agreed codes of practice.

In respect of (b) none.

18 Jun 1996 : Column: 449

Burma

Mrs. Fyfe: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the cost of Government funding of the recent business delegation to Rangoon [32357]

Mr. Nelson: The DTI provided £23,000 towards the cost of funding the recent business delegation to Rangoon, in the form of £1,000 grants given to eligible UK companies that participated in the Asia Pacific advisory group trade mission.

Mrs. Fyfe: To ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the cost of mounting the "Burma--the Next Tiger?" conference in London. [32356]

Mr. Nelson: After deducting the income derived from attendance charges, the total cost to DTI of mounting the trade awareness seminar--"Burma--the Next Tiger" on 5 December 1995 was around £4,500.

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