§ Mr. Roy Hughesasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) how many veterinary surgeons are employed at present by local authorities; and how many more will need to be recruited to operate fully the Poultry Meat (Hygiene) Regulations;
(2) what will be the estimated cost to local authorities of employing qualified veterinary surgeons to operate the Poultry Meat (Hygiene) Regulations.
§ Mr. StrangThere are some veterinary surgeons already employed by local 675W authorities. I regret that precise details are not available. Full implementation of the regulations is expected to require the equivalent of about 100 full-time veterinarians at an annual cost, including overheads, of about £1 million to £1½ million from 1979–80 onwards.
§ Mr. Roy Hughesasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many qualified veterinary surgeons are practising in the United Kingdom at the latest available date; how many are in the course of being trained; and what plans he has to increase recruitment.
§ Mr. StrangThere are over 6,000 veterinary surgeons operating in the United Kingdom, of whom some 4,700 are in general practice. The number of students taking a first degree course in veterinary science in 1974–75 was 1,307. There are no specific plans to increase recruitment into the profession.