Mr. Spierasked the Minister of Food whether he is yet in a position to make a statement about the Government's policy on the siting of slaughterhouses.
§ Major Lloyd GeorgeYes. It is essential that the construction of new slaughterhouses and the modernising of old ones should proceed as quickly as our resources permit and I have therefore agreed with my agricultural colleagues that, while we cannot yet make any announcement about the important subject of livestock marketing policy, we should indicate the lines on which we propose that the future siting of slaughterhouses should develop.
The Government have no intention of continuing indefinitely the present arrangements under which the Ministry of Food controls and operates the slaughterhouses used for preparing our home-produced meat. That must go on while meat rationing is necessary; but it is our intention that local authorities and private interests should take over the responsibilities as soon as circumstances permit. It is essential, however, that there should be some central regulation to ensure that buildings in which slaughtering is carried on meet all the requirements of hygiene, meat inspection and humane slaughter and that they should 2W be so sited as to make it possible to achieve these objectives with reasonable economy, and also to ensure the maximum economies in the total cost of transport of both livestock and meat.
A return to the pre-war system of slaughtering in thousands of small premises would not do that, nor would the building of large factory-type plants be suitable for the needs of this country. The Government therefore propose in this respect to continue the policy announced by the previous Government of what is generally known as moderate concentration, that is, concentration into some 300 or 400 slaughterhouses throughout Great Britain. The exact number cannot, of course, be determined at once.
In order to work towards a system of this sort, for which amending legislation may ultimately be necessary, my Department will provide the necessary machinery, in consultation with other Departments and interested organisations, for drawing up a national siting plan. We shall call into early discussions representatives of local authorities, producers, butchers and others, and we shall invite the co-operation of professional bodies concerned with these matters. The arrangements in Scotland will be similar to those in England and Wales and will be made by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State in consultation with me.