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Ministerial Visits

Mr. Yeo: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) where his predecessor, as minister, stayed on his visit to Strasbourg in July 1997; what was the cost of that accommodation; and what expenses he incurred during that visit; [75864]

(2) if he will list where ministers in his Department have stayed on their visits to Strasbourg and the costs of each of those stays since 1 May 1997. [75865]

Mr. Nick Brown [holding answer 10 March 1999]: Ministers in this Department have made 3 overnight visits to Strasbourg since 1 May 1997, two by my right hon. Friend the Member for Copeland (Dr. Cunningham) and once by me in October 1998. The details are as set out in the table. All travel was judged to comply with the requirements of the Ministerial Code and the Civil Service Management Code.

13 Apr 1999 : Column: 223

Date	Purpose of visit	Hotel
15-16 July 1997	Appearance before the European Parliament's Temporary Committee of Inquiry on BSE	Strasbourg Hilton. Cost--£115.70
15-16 June 1998	Appearance before the European Parliament's Committee on Agriculture as President in Office of the Council and bilateral with Commissioner Fischler	Strasbourg Hilton. Cost--£106
20-22 October 1998	Minister's visit to the European Parliament and meetings with MEPs	Strasbourg Hilton. Cost--£248

13 Apr 1999 : Column: 223

Civil Servants (Appraisal)

Mr. McDonnell: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what were the appraisal performance markings awarded to civil servants in 1998 for (a) each agency in his Department and (b) the Department broken down by (i) grade, (ii) gender, (iii) ethnicity, (iv) part- time/full-time working and (v) disability; and for (1) each agency and (2) the Department whether the Cabinet Office's four fifths rule for detecting potential adverse impact was applied to the appraisal markings of civil servants in the 1998 report round. [78142]

Mr. Morley: The breakdown of 1998 overall performance markings for staff in MAFF including those agencies that use the core-Department's Human Resource computer system is as set out.

My officials are considering current data, along with historic data, for any indications of possible adverse impact.

I have asked the Chief Executives of those agencies who have their own HR computer systems to write to my hon. Friend separately.

Breakdown of 1998 overall performance markings

	Box 1	Box 2	Box 3A	Box 3B	Box 4	Box 5
MAFF
Grade
AA	24	395	315	101	0	0
AO	42	777	615	158	9	0
EO	28	616	421	69	4	0
HEO	38	463	213	33	1	0
SEO	23	296	150	12	3	0
Grade 7	21	159	56	7	0	0
Grade 6	7	47	24	1	0	0
SCS	5	35	15	0	0	0
Sex
Female	100	1,400	880	155	5	0
Male	88	1,388	929	226	12	0
Ethnic Group
Minority	5	130	117	39	1	0
Unknown	8	94	52	15	1	0
White	175	2,564	1,640	327	15	0
Part-time
Full time	164	2,506	1,603	354	17	0
Part time	24	282	206	27	0	0
Disability
No disability	181	2,596	1,674	331	14	0
Disability	7	192	135	50	3	0
Pesticides Safety Directorate
Grade
AA	0	3	6	0	0	0
AO	2	15	1	3	0	0
EO	3	13	12	2	0	0
HEO	9	34	11	1	0	0
SEO	3	21	4	0	1	0
Grade 7	2	10	2	0	0	0
Grade 6	*	*	*	*	*	*
SCS	*	*	*	*	*	*
Sex
Female	10	43	16	1	1	0
Male	9	55	20	5	0	0
Ethnic Group
Minority	*	*	*	*	*	*
Unknown	*	*	*	*	*	*
White	19	94	36	5	1	0
Part time
Full time	16	88	33	6	1	0
Part time	3	10	3	0	0	0
Disability
No disability	17	85	30	5	0	0
Disability	2	13	6	1	1	0
Veterinary Laboratories Agency
Grade
AA	16	110	81	17	1	0
AO	19	168	111	26	5	0
EO	6	80	51	13	1	0
HEO	1	48	23	3	2	0
SEO	6	32	11	1	0	0
Grade 7	7	60	30	6	0	0
Grade 6	0	6	4	1	0	0
SCS	*	*	*	*	*	*
Sex
Female	28	277	164	36	2	0
Male	27	228	147	31	7	0
Ethnic Group
Minority	0	9	5	4	2	0
Unknown	1	16	6	3	0	0
White	54	480	300	60	7	0
Part Time
Full time	51	445	280	58	9	0
Part time	4	60	31	9	0	0
Disability
No Disability	52	477	289	62	8	0
Disability	3	28	22	5	1	0
Veterinary Medicines Directorate
Grade
AA	0	7	3	2	0	0
AO	2	14	5	1	0	0
EO	1	8	3	0	0	0
HEO	1	3	2	2	0	0
SEO	1	7	1	1	0	0
Grade 7	0	14	7	1	0	0
Grade 6	*	*	*	*	*	*
SCS	*	*	*	*	*	*
Sex
Female	4	35	11	4	0	0
Male	1	21	13	3	0	0
Ethnic Group
Minority	*	*	*	*	*	*
Unknown	*	*	*	*	*	*
White	*	*	*	*	*	*
Part Time
Full time	5	51	21	6	0	0
Part time	0	5	3	1	0	0
Disability
No Disability	*	*	*	*	*	*
Disability	*	*	*	*	*	*

Notes:

1. Data have not been provided in any group where there are less than 5 reports in total or where totals of less than 5 could be ascertained to ensure that individual anonymity is protected. Such entries have been marked with an asterisk.

2. Data in the 'disability' group comprise staff who have declared a disability. Those in the 'no disability' group comprise all others.

3. The definitions of the overall box markings for staff in grades AA-Grade 6 are as follows:

Box 1 Outstanding

Box 2 Performance significantly above requirements

Box 3a Performance fully effective in all respects

Box 3b Performance sufficient for the needs of the job

Box 4 Improvements to performance required in some respects

Box 5 Unsatisfactory

4. Staff in the Senior Civil Service also have 2+ and 3+ but no 3b markings. The 2+ data have been included with the Box 2 data and the 3+ data with the Box 3a data.

5. Data cover all reports with a 1998 report date and entered onto the computer system by 19 March 1999. Some of the 1998 reports will not yet be on the system and as such the data will be incomplete.

6. Data include leavers.

13 Apr 1999 : Column: 226

Letter from Johnston McNeill to Mr. John McDonnell, dated March 1999:

As Chief Executive of the Meat Hygiene Service (MHS) your question to the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food requesting information on the appraisal performance markings awarded to civil servants in 1998 broken by down (i) grade, (ii) gender, (iii) ethnicity, (iv) part-time/full-time working and (v) disability and whether the Cabinet Office's four fifths rule for detecting potential adverse impact was applied to the appraisal markings of civil servants in the 1998 report round, has been passed to me to reply as regards this Executive Agency.

The breakdown of the 1998 overall performance markings for staff in the MHS is attached. The MHS is considering the data for any indications of possible adverse impact.

Breakdown of MHS performance markings

	Box 1	Box 2	Box 3	Box 4	Box 5
MHS
Grade
TMHI	1	21	14	4	0
MTEC	4	72	92	11	3
PMI	2	60	24	2	1
MHI	16	363	302	27	3
SPMI	1	18	2	0	0
SMHI	6	87	40	2	0
OVS	0	6	7	0	0
Sex
Female	2	36	28	1	0
Male	28	591	453	45	7
Ethnic Group
Minority	0	2	11	2	0
Unknown	0	4	1	2	0
White	30	621	469	42	7
Commitment
Full time	30	608	462	46	7
Part time	0	19	19	0	0
Disability
No Disability	0	0	0	0	0
Disability	0	1	2	0	0

Note:

Figures measured over 1,191 employees.

Abbreviations

TMHI Trainee Meat Hygiene Inspector

MTEC Meat Technician

PMI Poultry Meat Inspector

MHI Meat Hygiene Inspector

SPMI Senior Poultry Meat Inspector

SMHI Senior Meat Hygiene Inspector

OVS Official Veterinary Surgeon

Letter from P. I. Stanley to Mr. John McDonnell, dated March 1999:

13 Apr 1999 : Column: 227

The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has asked me to reply, in respect of the Central Science Laboratory (CSL), to your question concerning appraisal performance markings awarded to staff in 1998.
The breakdown of 1998 overall performance markings for staff in CSL is set out on the attached sheet.
My staff are considering current data, along with historic data, for any indications of possible adverse impact.
Breakdown of 1998 performance markings

	Box 1	Box 2	Box 3a	Box 3b	Box 4	Box 5
Central Science Laboratory
Grade
Level 1	5	64	52	9	0	0
Level 2	8	123	107	19	3	0
Level 3	2	38	17	4	0	0
Level 4	3	16	10	2	1	0
Level 5	2	12	2	1	0	0
Gender
Male	11	137	112	23	3	0
Female	9	116	76	12	1	0
Ethnicity
Minorities	Information not available
Unknown
Part/Full-time
Part-time	1	15	11	3	0	0
Full-time	19	238	177	32	4	0
Disability
Disability	0	2	2	0	1	0
No Disability	20	251	186	35	3	0




Notes:

1. A breakdown by box markings is not presently available in terms of ethnicity.

2. The definitions of the overall box markings are as follows:

Box 1 Outstanding

Box 2 Performance significantly above requirements

Box 3a Performance fully effective in all respects

Box 3b Performance sufficient for the needs of the job

Box 4 Improvements to performance required in some respects

Box 5 Unsatisfactory

3. Data covers all reports with a 1998 report date.

4. Data includes leavers.

5. Staff in the Senior Civil Service are included in the MAFF breakdown of 1998 overall performance markings.

Letter from Sarah Nason to Mr. John McDonnell, dated 23 March 1999:

The Minister has asked me to respond, in respect of the Farming and Rural Conservation Agency (FRCA), to your question about performance appraisal markings awarded to civil servants in 1998 for his Department and each agency in his Department, broken down by grade; gender; ethnicity; part-time/full-time working and disability; and whether the Cabinet Office's four-fifths rule for detecting potential adverse impact was applied to the appraisal markings of civil servants in the 1998 report round.

I enclose a breakdown as requested of performance markings from the 1997-98 reporting year for staff in FRCA. FRCA staff are in different grades to those in the core department, but for your ease of reference we have converted the grade data to the nearest MAFF equivalents.

Work is in hand to analyse this data for any indications of possible adverse impact.

13 Apr 1999 : Column: 228

Breakdown of overall performance markings in FRCA: 1997-98 reporting year

	1	2	3	4	5
Ethnicity
White Origin	21	198	112	1	0
Ethnic minority origin	0	2	0	0	0
Unknown	10	73	65	1	0
Disability
None or none known	31	271	176	2	0
Disability known	0	2	1	0	0
Full or part time
Full time	29	247	152	2	0
Part time	2	26	25	0	0
Gender
Male	16	177	100	2	0
Female	15	96	77	0	0
Grade and equivalents
AA	0	1	0	0	0
AO	7	55	37	0	0
EO	10	27	9	0	0
HEO	4	77	90	2	0
SEO	8	76	31	0	0
G7	2	30	10	0	0
G6	0	7	0	0	0
Senior Civil Service	*	*	*	*	*

Notes:

* Data not provided as this would enable individuals' report markings to be ascertained.

Definitions of overall performance markings are as follows:

Box 1--Outstanding

Box 2--Very Good

Box 3--Satisfactory

Box 4--Improvement Necessary

Box 5--Unsatisfactory

Data covering 1997-98 reports input onto the Agency's computerised Human Resources System by 15 March 1999.

Data do not include leavers.

Letter from P. W. Greig-Smith to Mr. John McDonnell, dated March 1999:

The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and food has asked me to reply to your question on appraisal performance markings in 1998. I am replying on behalf of the Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science (CEFAS).

The breakdown of overall performance markings for staff in CEFAS is set out overleaf.

	1	2	3A	3B	Total
Current grade/overall assessment
6	1	8	6	0	15
7	1	20	7	0	28
AA	4	3	3	3	13
AO	11	41	8	2	62
EO	13	47	17	4	81
HEO	9	31	18	0	58
Industrial	8	18	6	0	32
SCS	--	--	1	--	1
SEO	2	28	8	0	38
Total	47	168	66	9	328
Sex/overall assessment
F	18	72	19	5	114
M	31	124	55	4	214
Total	49	196	74	9	328
Full/part time/overall assessment
Full	46	172	70	7	295
Part	3	24	4	2	33
Total	49	196	74	9	328
Ethnic origin/overall assessment
White	47	188	69	9	313
Ethnic Minority	--	3	--	--	3
Unknown	2	5	5	0	12
	49	196	74	9	328
Able bodied/ Overall assessment
Disabled	2	13	6	--	21
Able Bodied	47	183	68	9	307
Total	49	196	74	9	328

13 Apr 1999 : Column: 229

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