HC Deb 11 January 1978 vol 941 cc1649-50
5. Miss Fookes

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will take steps to require local authorities to set up dog warden schemes or, failing legislation, what encouragement he is giving to local authorities to do so on a voluntary basis.

The Minister of State, Department of the Environment (Mr. Denis Howell)

The general establishment of dog warden schemes is one of the matters that I am examining in the light of public response to the report of the Working Party on Dogs. I hope to make an announcement on the report as a whole in the near future. Local authorities already have discretionary powers for the purpose, and I welcome the fact that several local authorities have already instituted such a service.

Miss Fookes

May I inject some sense of urgency into the Minister's deliberations, as this is a matter which is of interest not only to dog-lovers concerned with the welfare of animals but to those concerned for the general public? There is always the danger of outbreaks of rabies.

Mr. Howell

Since the hon. Lady came came to see me recently with a very distinguished delegation on this matter, I can assure her that she has succeeded in injecting a greater sense of urgency into my deliberations.

Mr. Andrew F. Bennett

Can my right hon. Friend remind us when the departmental inquiry into dogs was set up, when it actually reported and how long it has been deliberating? Since, in the summer, my right hon. Friend said that he was considering making an announcement "soon", can he now give us a specific date? Is he aware that both dog-lovers and dog-haters would like him to take action quickly on that report?

Mr. Howell

I have not got the actual date with me, but I will write to my hon. Friend. I can assure him that my experience of consulting the world at large about the Working Party on Dogs is that it takes a considerable time. The correspondence is voluminous and needs to be studied with great care. However, I assure my hon. Friend that I hope to make a very early announcement.

Mr. Rossi

May I remind the Minister that he gave me an assurance that he would deal with this as a matter of urgency during the passage of the Control of Pollution Bill in the spring of 1974?

Mr. Howell

That can hardly be the case, since the working party had not reported at that time. I do not think that I had even set it up at that time.

Mr. Rossi

It was as a result of the Minister's undertaking that the working party was set up two years later.