A GOVERNMENT agency which employs hundreds of scientists in York is waiting to find out how it will be affected by cuts in the Civil Service.

The Food and Environment Research Agency (FERA), an executive agency of the Government’s Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), expects further growth to be fuelled by the private sector.

FERA, which employs 600 people in Sand Hutton, York, works internationally on the safety and sustainability of the food chain, investigating risks from pests, diseases and climactic conditions as well as working with large and small businesses on safe packaging and consistency and providence of ingredients sourced by food manufacturers. It also provides workspace for related businesses on its site.

Adrian Belton, chief executive, said they anticipated Government work would progressively decline in light of the Government’s inability to spend, but private business was growing at more than the rate of the decline.

Mr Belton said: “The food and drink manufacturing sector is the biggest in terms of numbers of jobs and it’s the only sector that has continued to grow throughout the recession.”

FERA recorded a turnover of £65 million last year, he said, which increased to £69 million this year and is forecast to reach £75 million next year.

“In the middle of a recession that’s not a bad growth story,” Mr Belton said.

“When we created the agency in April 2009, we launched with 807 people, now we have just over 850 and this next year we could be looking to increase our numbers to nearly 900. That goes very much against the tide of a civil service that’s trying to shrink.”

Mr Belton stressed the agency, which does half of its work for Defra, a further 15 per cent for other parts of Government and just over a third for commercial clients, would not be privatised.

“We won’t be sold off. We will always need to be close to Government and a large part of our work will need to be for Government.”

He said the form the organisation would take was yet to be determined, but reform in the civil service meant they were looking at a range of ways to use Government assets for work it needs to do.