§ Mr. Martyn JonesTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many officials of the Meat Hygiene Service(a) have been subject to disciplinary action, (b) have been dismissed, (c) have received formal disciplinary warnings, (d) have received formal written cautions and (e) are still under disciplinary investigation for failure to enforce specified bovine material controls in slaughter houses. [20267]
§ Mrs. BrowningTo date, 45 Meat Hygiene Service employees have been subject to disciplinary investigation as a result of failure to ensure full compliance with SBM controls. Four employees have been dismissed—one of whom was reinstated at appeal—18 have received formal disciplinary warnings and 23 have received written cautions, one officer is still under disciplinary investigation. Before any of these staff are allowed to begin their work again they are required to undergo re-training.
371W
§ Mr. JonesTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what retraining officials of the Meat Hygiene Service who have failed to enforce specified bovine material controls in slaughterhouses have to undergo before they are allowed to resume their work. [20269]
§ Mrs. BrowningStaff training matters are the responsibility of the Meat Hygiene Service and I have asked the chief executive to reply to you direct.
Letter from Johnston McNeill to Mr. Martyn Jones, dated 17 March 1997:
As Chief Executive of the Meat Hygiene Service (MHS)your Parliamentary Question to the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food about the re-training undertaken by officials who have failed to ensure compliance with the specified bovine material controls in slaughterhouses before they are allowed to resume work has been passed to me to reply. [20269]As you are aware, the Meat Hygiene Service (MHS) was established as an Executive Agency of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) on 1 April 1995. It took over from some 300 local authorities responsibility for enforcing meat hygiene, inspection and animal welfare at slaughter legislation in licensed fresh meat premises in England, Scotland and Wales.The MHS is also responsible for enforcing specified bovine material (SBM)controls in slaughterhouses. It does this most rigorously. A comprehensive SBM training programme has been provided to all inspection staff. The agency's staff are fully aware that they may face disciplinary action as a result of their failure to enforce fully the controls. As you note, staff who have faced disciplinary action undergo a retraining programme prior to resuming work at a plant. Such staff are required to repeat the intensive practical plant based SBM training under the supervision of a Principal Official Veterinary Surgeon. The importance of 100% compliance with SBM controls is reiterated to these staff and they continue to be closely monitored by the plant's Official Veterinary Surgeon to ensure comprehensive and rigorous enforcement of SBM controls.