HC Deb 23 February 1948 vol 447 cc1596-8
40. Mr. Thomas Macpherson

asked the Minister of Food to make a statement on the findings of the Bodinnar Committee.

Mr. Strachey

Yes, Sir. I have now received the final Report of the Bodinnar Committee and am in a position to say what we propose to do about pigs. The orders to be issued will give precise details of the new regulations, but in broad terms they will be as follows:

  1. 1. All pig keepers intending to fatten and slaughter a pig for their own consumption will be required to register with the local food office within seven days of acquisition. This will be an indispensable notice of their intention to apply for a licence to slaughter in not less than four months from the date of registration.
  2. 2. The slaughter of pigs will only be permitted:
    1. (a) at a Government slaughterhouse, including bacon factories;
    2. (b) at a slaughterhouse authorised for pigs only; or
    3. (c) at a place specially designated for the slaughter of a specific pig or pigs by a particular person named in the permit.
  3. 3. It will be an offence to offer pigs (other than pigs sold for breeding) which are estimated to be over 8 score live weight (160 lb.) for sale either privately or by auction except to the Ministry of Food for slaughter.
These Measures will, I believe, serve to check the abuses which have undoubtedly crept into the self-supplier scheme. Registration will come into effect on 1st May next, which is four months before the beginning of the next slaughtering season. The other provisions will be put into effect as soon as practicable. In the meanwhile there will be much preliminary work to be done in the selection of slaughtering points, the more effective supervision of the store markets and in arranging for much more effective enforcement of the regulations. The new orders will not apply to Northern Ireland.

I hope shortly to make a further announcement on other aspects of the Report of the Bodinnar Committee.

Mr. T. Macpherson

While I thank my right hon. Friend for the very satisfactory way in which he has dealt with this matter, may I ask him whether any decision has been reached regarding the suggestion which was made to the Bodinnar Committee to relate the issue of rations for pigs and poultry to the sales of bacon and eggs to the Ministry of Food?

Mr. Strachey

A recommendation was made on that point, but it is primarily a matter for the Ministry of Agriculture.

Mr. Hurd

With regard to the point about specified places of slaughter, will it be accepted that a smallholder or cottager can get his own premises licensed for the slaughter of one particular pig?

Mr. Strachey

Yes, Sir. That is the purpose of the third provision, that for a particular pig to be slaughtered by a particular person, a licence will be issued.

Mr. J. S. C. Reid

Does the right hon. Gentleman intend to publish the Bodinnar Report or any part of it, so that we may see on what this new order is founded?

Mr. Strachey

No, Sir. We think that would be undesirable, because it goes into the question of the enforcement of these orders against intending offenders.

Mr. Reid

Can we have part of it?

Mr. Bowles

Will the self-supplier be able to keep more than one pig?

Mr. Strachey

There will be no change in that respect. A self-supplier is allowed to keep two pigs under certain conditions.

Mr. Bowles

Can he kill them both himself?

Mr. Strachey

Perhaps my hon. Friend will await the new regulations on that point. It is slightly complicated.

Major Sir Thomas Dugdale

How does a domestic pig keeper in outlying districts get permission under the first provision to kill his pig. Does he make application to the food office? If he lives in another part of the country, how does he get it?

Mr. Strachey

Yes, Sir. He will have to make an application to the food office to slaughter a pig at a certain place at a certain time.

Mr. H. D. Hughes

Will my right hon. Friend say what is the relation between the existing bacon ration to the normal consumer and the ration which a producer is able to obtain by the slaughter of two pigs a year for his own use?

Mr. Strachey

He will get very much more bacon, but he will give up his bacon ration.

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