Food Standards Agency: Contractors
House of Lords
Baroness Byford (Conservative)
To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of the 2012-13 charge-out rate for a meat hygiene inspector employed by the Food Standards Agency comprises the combined salary and national insurance cost.
Earl Howe (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Quality), Health; Conservative)
The 2012-13 hourly charge-out rate for a Food Standards Agency (FSA) meat hygiene inspector (MHI) is £28.80. The charge-out rate is the same for employed and contracted MHIs. The costs of MHIs total £34.3 million and of this amount 79% (£27.1 million) relates to the direct cost.
The full details of the direct and indirect costs for MHIs are broken down in the following table:
| MHI industry charge rate | 2012-13 |
| £m | |
| Salaries-employed staff | 14.6 |
| Overtime-employed staff | 3.0 |
| National insurance cost-employed staff | 1.4 |
| Pensions-monthly employer contributions | 2.7 |
| Contractor cost to FSA | 5.4 |
| Direct cost | 27.1 |
| MHI proportion of indirect cost | 7.2 |
| Total MHI cost | 34.3 |
These details and further information about the FSA costs and charges for 2012-13 are available at: www. food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2012/feb/meatcosts.