§ 31. Mr. Chapmanasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what improvements have now been carried out in the 15 horse slaughterhouses and 45 knackers' yards which in the early part of the year, were found to be unsatisfactory under the slaughter Regulations; and how the figures stand today.
§ The Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Mr. Harmar Nicholls)Better arrangements have been made for feeding and watering horses, and in some cases there have been structural alterations. As a result, well over half these premises now comply with the Regulations. Four of the horse slaughterhouses and 15 of the knackers' yards have minor technical defects. In these and in the case of two others which officers of my Department consider more unsatisfactory, we are urging the local authorities to expedite action under their powers.
§ 32. Mr. Chapmanasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in how many horse slaughterhouses and knackers' yards it is still the practice to kill horses in the sight of carcases.
§ Mr. H. NichollsNo incidents have been reported to my Department since the hon. Member asked a similar Question on 12th April.
§ Mr. ChapmanIs the Parliamentary Secretary not aware that we have been asking Questions on this subject for about eighteen months, and still he tells us that the slaughterhouses and knackers' yards have not been cleared up, let alone at a satisfactory pace? If we put down some more Questions, will the hon. Gentleman be able to say that the matter will be cleared up by the autumn?
§ Mr. NichollsThe hon. Gentleman can be assured that his questioning has helped. We are trying to urge the local authorities who have failed in this matter to make use of their powers under the Regulations. The Answers which have already been given to the hon. Member show that we are getting local authorities to recognise the urgency of this matter, and that we are making progress. If the hon. Member knows of any specific cases, we will see that the attention of the local authority concerned is drawn to the matter.
§ Mr. FellIs my hon. Friend aware that it is not very satisfactory to hear that only about half of the knackers' yards and slaughterhouses have come into compliance with the Regulations? My hon. Friend must be a bit tougher with them.
§ Mr. NichollsMy hon. Friend did not quite follow the purport of the Question and Answer. It was half of a specific number in an Answer which has already been given to the hon. Member. Half has already been cleared up. Most of the others have now got only technical defects which are being looked at, and we are down to two cases which we are looking at rather more urgently.