Staff report

Staff costs

The following sections is subject to audit.

Type of cost	Staff	Board	Total 2021/22	Total 2020/21
Wages and salaries	48,121	152	48,273	46,506
Social security costs	5,391	11	5,402	5,161
Other pension costs	12,032	-	12,032	11,173
Sub total	65,544	163	65,707	62,840
Contract inspectors and veterinary costs	30,407	-	30,407	27,979
Other staff	1,621	-	1,621	2,074
Total	97,572	163	97,735	92,893
Less recoveries in respect of outward secondments	(171)	-	(171)	(97)
Total net costs	97,401	163	97,564	92,796

Civil Service Pension Schemes

The Principal Civil Service Pension Schemes (PCSPS) and the Civil Servant and Other Pension Scheme (CSOPS) – known as “alpha” are unfunded multi-employer defined benefit schemes in which the FSA is unable to identify its share of the underlying assets and liabilities. The scheme actuary valued the scheme as at 31 March 2016 and you can find details in the resource accounts of the Cabinet Office: Civil Superannuation.

For 2021/22, employers’ contributions of £10.4 million (2020/21 £9.2 million) were payable to the PCSPS and CSOPS at one of four rates in the range of 26.6% to 30.3% of pensionable earnings, based on salary bands. The Scheme Actuary reviews employer contributions usually every four years following a full scheme valuation. The contribution rates are set to meet the cost of the benefits accruing during 2021/22 to be paid when the member retires and not the benefits paid during this period to existing pensioners. Employees can opt to open a partnership pension account, a stakeholder pension with an employer contribution. Employers’ contributions of £135,176 (2020/21 £133,300) were paid to one or more of the panel of three appointed stakeholder pension providers. Employer contributions are age-related and ranged from 8% to 14.75%. The FSA as an employer also matches employee contributions up to 3% of pensionable earnings. In addition, employer contributions of £4,301 (2020/21 £4,267) at 0.5% of pensionable pay, were payable to the PCSPS to cover the cost of the future provision of lump sum benefits on death in service or ill health retirement of these employees.

Contributions due to the partnership pension providers at the balance sheet date were £21,911. Contributions prepaid at that date were £177,969. 

Local Government Pension Scheme

The Local Government Pension Scheme is a defined benefit scheme which is administered by Local Pensions Partnership and governed through compliance with the relevant provisions of the Pension Schemes Act 1993, the Pensions Act 1995 and the Pensions Act 2004. For the year ended 31 March 2022, contributions of £1.7 million (2020/21 £1.8m) were paid to the fund at the rate determined by the Actuary appointed to the fund. For the year ended 31 March 2022, this rate was 19.4% (2020/21 19.4%) of
pensionable remuneration.

On the basis of the full actuarial valuation the FSA Fund surplus was £3.7 million as at March 2019 (March 2016 deficit of £13.5m). During 2021/22 the FSA made additional deficit reduction payments of amount of £1.5m and will pay £1.5 million in 2022/23. 

The next full actuarial review of the scheme will show the position at 31 March 2022. This triennial valuation process will be carried out in the summer of 2022 and will determine the FSA’s employer contribution rate for a three year period starting 1 April 2023. 

An updated valuation, under IAS19 criteria, resulted in a calculated deficit of £67.4 million as at 31 March 2022 compared with a calculated deficit of £90.2 million as at 31 March 2021. The projected unit method of valuation has been used to calculate the service cost under IAS19.

Average number of persons employed

The average number of whole-time equivalent persons employed during the year 2021/22 and 2020/21 was as follows.

Permanent staff	2021/22	2020/21
Strategy Legal and Governance Directorate	108	171
Policy Group	117	73
Science Group	113	57
Operations	592	598
Casual Meat Hygiene Inspectors	6	6
Finance and Performance	87	83
Information	61	57
Regulation, Compliance and People Division	114	103
International and UK Affairs	15	-
Centrally Managed	10	7
Permanent staff total	1,223	1,155

 

Temporary staff	2021/22	2020/21
Strategy Legal and Governance Directorate	1	3
Policy Group	4	-
Science Group	4	-
Operations	468	466
Finance and Performance	7	5
Information	-	2
Regulation, Compliance and People Division	5	1
International and UK Affairs	1	-
Centrally Managed	-	-
Temporary staff total	490	477
Board	9	9
Total	1,722	1,641

* EU Exit staff included in Strategy, Legal and Governance Directorate in 2020/21 are now spread across other directorates but primarily Policy, Science and International and UK Affairs.

Temporary staff include agency staff, consultants, contractors and temporary staff on fixed term contracts.

From the start of 20/21 staff on maternity leave have been transferred to Centrally Managed. 

Reporting of Civil Service compensation scheme - exit packages

2021/22

Exit package cost band	Number of compulsory redundancies	Number of other departures agreed	Total number of exit packages by cost band
less than £10,000	-	-	-
£10,000 to £25,000	-	-	-
£25,000 to £50,000	-	-	-
£50,000 to £100,000	-	2	2
£100,000 to £150,000	-	-	-
£150,000 to £200,000	-	-	-
£200,000 and above	-	-	-
Total number of exit packages	-	2	2
Total resources cost (£)	-	115,760	115,760

2020/21

Exit package cost band	Number of compulsory redundancies	Number of other departures agreed	Total number of exit packages by cost band
less than £10,000	-	-	-
£10,000 to £25,000	-	-	-
£25,000 to £50,000	-	1	1
£50,000 to £100,000	-	1	1
£100,000 to £150,000	-	-	-
£150,000 to £200,000	-	-	-
£200,000 and above	-	-	-
Total number of exit packages	-	2	2
Total resources cost (£)	-	110,655	110,655

Redundancy and other departure costs have been paid in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Service Compensation Scheme (CSCS), a statutory scheme made under the Superannuation Act 1972. The table above shows the total cost of exit packages agreed and accounted for in 2021/22 (2020/21 comparative figures are also given). £116,000 exit costs were paid in 2021/22, the year of departure (£111,000 in 2020/21).

Where the department has agreed early retirements, the additional costs are met by the department and not by the Civil Service Pension Scheme. Ill-health retirement costs are met by the pension scheme and are not included in the table. All costs in relation to exit packages were not over the contractual amounts payable and appropriate authorisation sought when exceeding Cabinet Office limits.

There was one early retirement on ill health grounds in 2021/22 at a cost of £11,509. In 2020/21 there were no early retirements on ill health grounds.

Staff composition

Staff turnover

FSA staff turnover figures are calculated in line with Cabinet Office's guidance. 

Nation	Staff turnover
Westminster	11.2%
FSA Wales	12.0%
FSA Northern Ireland	6.4%

Number of SCS staff by pay band (as of 31 March 2022)

Pay band	Westminster	Wales	Northern Ireland	Total
SCS1	15	1	1	17
SCS2	7	0	1	8
SCS3	1	0	0	1

Number of persons each sex (as of 31 March 2022)

Roles	Male	Female
Executive members	2	7
Other Senior Civil Servants	12	5
Board members	5	6
Other employees	811	633

Performance statistics (representation figures)

Figure 40: Representation of Lesbian, gay, bisexual and other (LGBO) (declared)

4.7% of employees define their sexual orientation as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and other. This is slightly below the Civil Service average, although data may be impacted due to a low declaration rate.

Figure 41: Representation of disability (declared)

7.4% of employees have declared a disability. The percentage of people declaring themselves as having a disability is underrepresented in the FSA, in comparison to the Civil Service average, although the data may be impacted due to a low declaration rate.

Figure 42: Representation of ethnic minority (declared)

12% if employees have declared themselves as Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic. This is slightly below the Civil Service average. 

Figure 43: Representation of women by grade

43.9% of employees in the FSA are women. This has increased gradually since 2012, with the number of women at SCS and more junior grades remaining high but below gender parity of 50%.

Figure 44: Representation of faith and belief (declared)

61.5% of employees have declared a faith or belief. This is slightly lower than the Civil Service average, although the data may be impacted due to a low declaration rate.

Figure 45: FSA representation by age bands (declared)

The FSA has had an ageing workforce for several years as the number of employees over 50 has increased, remaining above the Civil Service average. There has also been a steady increase in representation of the under 30s, which is currently at almost half the Civil Service average.  

Reporting of sickness absence data 

The provisional figure for staff absence as a result of physical and mental illness including injuries, disability or other health problems is approximately 6.3 days per employee, compared with 5.1 and 4.0 for the previous 2 years.

Table 1: Sickness data by country

Country	2021/22	2020/21	2019/20
Westminster	6.5	5.3	4.1
FSA in Wales	0.4	1.5	0.9
FSA in Northern Ireland	5.2	2.9	4.8
Consolidated	6.3	5.1	4.0

Off-payroll engagements

The FSA is required to publish information on our highly paid and/or senior off-payroll engagements

Table 1: For all off-payroll engagements as of 31 March 2022, for more than £245 per day and that last for longer than six months.

Factor	FSA
Number of existing engagements as of 31 March 2022	4
Of which:	-
Number that have existed for less than one year at time of reporting	2
Number that have existed between one and two years at a time of reporting	1
Number that have existed between two and three years at time of reporting	1
Number that have existed for between three and four years at time of reporting	0
Number that have existed for four or more years at time of reporting	0

All existing off-payroll engagements, outlined above, have at some point been subject to a risk-based assessment as to whether assurance is required that the individual is paying the right amount of tax and, where necessary, that assurance has been sought.

Table 2: All temporary off-payroll workers engaged at any point during the year ended 31 March 2022, for more than £245 per day.

Factor	FSA
Number of off-payroll workers engaged during the year ended 31 March 2022	4
Of which:	-
Number determined as in-scope of IR35	0
Number of determined as out-of-scope of IR35	4
Number of engagements reassessed for compliance or assurance purposes during the year	1
Of which: number of engagements that saw a change to IR35 status following review	0
Number of engagements where the status was disputed under provisions in the off-payroll legislation	0

Table 3: For any off-payroll engagements of board members, and/or, senior officials with significant financial responsibility, between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022.

Factor	FSA
Number of off-payroll engagements of board members, and/or, senior officials with significant financial responsibility, during the financial year. (1)	0
Total number of individuals on payroll and off-payroll that have been deemed “board members, and/or, senior officials with significant financial responsibility, during the financial year. This figure should include both on payroll and off-payroll engagements. (2)	17

Consultancy spend

Consultancy spend in 2021/22 was £44,836  relating to six suppliers with the greatest spend by one supplier being £20,634. 

Healthy and safety reporting

At a time so dominated by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, our Health, Safety and Wellbeing Unit (HSWU) have continued to provide competent advice t o managers and staff to enable delivery of our duty of care and to ensure our ability to support the wellbeing of our employees.

Our National Health and Safety Committee continues to facilitate meaningful consultation with Trade Unions, enabling a platform for collaborative working, including with our Service Delivery Partner.
Progress against the 2020-23 Health and Safety ambition is as follows:

Ambition 1 – is the reduction of employee lost days due to work related injury; seeking an overall reduction of 15% over the period 2020-23 when compared with the period 2017-20 (which was a total of 841 days).
Ambition 2 – is the elimination of accidents at work that cause harm serious enough to be reportable under RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013).

Reportable Incidents, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences (RIDDOR) 2018/19 – 2021/22

RIDDOR Category	2021/22	2020/21	2019/20	2018/19
Fatal	0	0	0	0
Major	0	1	0	1
Less than 7 days	7	4	3	2
Disease	3	13	0	1
Dangerous Occurrence	0	0	0	0
Total	10	18	3	4

In the above table there are 13 cases of COVID-19 infection, RIDDOR reported during 2020/21, within the disease category. These cases involved frontline staff carrying out their regulatory role at 3 approved food businesses and were RIDDOR reported based upon there being reasonable evidence that occupational exposure to COVID-19 had occurred, following reported COVID-19 outbreaks at those food businesses. In 2021/22, 1 COVID-19-related case recorded.

Ambition is to reduce the accident/incident rate (AIR) annually over 2020-23. The AIR rate for 2021/22 was 3,639, compared to 5,701 ^{(footnote 1)} for 2020/21.

Recruitment practice

The FSA recruitment policy follows the Civil Service recruitment principles and is based on appointment of the best candidate on merit, identified through a process of open and fair competition. The recruitment policy is set out on our intranet site and provides a transparent approach that identifies high calibre individuals and promotes equality and diversity.

All external recruitment is currently subject to internal approval by either the Director for FSA Northern Ireland, People & Organisational Change or the Head of People & Organisational Change. Occasionally we do appoint individuals by exception, and the use of exceptions along with external recruitment activity is reported to the Civil Service Commission on a quarterly basis.

Temporary agency staff are employed via an agency and are engaged on an ad hoc or temporary basis to fulfil requirements within established posts which involve providing cover (for example for a vacancy, holiday or sickness) or additional resource requirements. 

These engagements can be either administrative or professional roles.

Trade Union (Facility Time publication requirements) Regulations 2017

The Trade Union (Facility Time Publication Requirements) Regulations 2017 took effect from 1 April 2017. These regulations were laid following the enactment of the Trade Union Act 2016. The Trade Union Act was passed in May 2016; one of the elements of this Act is the requirement for employers in the public sector to publish information on facility time. 

Facility Time is the provision of time off from an employee’s normal role to undertake TU duties and activities when they are elected as a TU representative.

Trade Unions (TUs) play an important role in the modern workplace and there are considerable benefits to both employers and employees when organisations and
unions work well together. 

Table 1 Relevant union officials
What was the total number of your employees who were relevant union officials during the relevant period?

Number of employees who were relevant union officials during the relevant period	Full-time equivalent employee number
22	21.6

Table 2 Percentage of time spent on facility time

How many of your employees who were relevant union officials employed during the relevant period spent a) 0%, b) 1%-50%, c) 51%-99% or d) 100% of their working hours on facility time?

Percentage of time	Number of employees
0%	16
1 to 50%	6
51 to 99%	0
100%	0

Table 3 Percentage of pay bill spent on facility time

Provide the figures requested in the first column of the table below to determine the percentage of your total pay bill spent on paying employees who were relevant union officials for facility time during the relevant period.

Totals	Figures
Provide the total cost of facility time	£28,782
Provide the total pay bill	£71,995,000
Provide the percentage of the total pay bill spent on facility time, calculated as: (total cost of facility time divided by the total pay bill multiplied by 100)	0.04%

Table 4 Paid trade union activities

As a percentage of total paid facility time hours, how many hours were spent by employees who were relevant union officials during the relevant period on paid trade union activities?

Activity	Amount
Time spent on paid trade union activities as a percentage of total paid facility time hours calculated as: (total hours spent on paid trade union activities by relevant union officials during the relevant period divided by total paid facility time hours) multiplied by 100	0%

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