§ The Countess of Marasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they have conducted an impact assessment of the effect of the reduction in the number of abattoirs licensed to accept cattle under the Over Thirty Months Scheme upon (a) costs to farmers and hauliers; (b) animal welfare, including increased travel time, additional time in lairage and prolonged waiting lists and (c) animal health where an animal with chronic disease must be retained on a farm for an extended period. [HL465]
§ Baroness HaymanThese issues were taken fully into account by the Intervention Board in letting contracts for the Over Thirty Months Scheme (OTMS) services. As a consequence of the tender, some journey times will inevitably increase, but will remain within animal welfare guidelines. Some journey times will decrease. Similarly, some farmers will face increased costs in transporting their animals to an OTMS abattoir; for others the costs will be lower. Sufficient slaughtering capacity has been contracted to deal with the animals coming forward for slaughter in each region. Since the overall slaughtering capacity available to the scheme will remain broadly the same, it is not envisaged that waiting lists or times in lairage will increase. Animals with diseases such that they are certified by a veterinarian as unfit to travel to a slaughterhouse can access the OTMS through the casualty service, which has worked well since it was introduced in 1996. In other cases, such as where an OTMS animal is held under TB restriction, abattoirs are required to process such animals as a priority.