HL Deb 06 April 1998 vol 588 cc93-4WA
The Earl of Haddington

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What advice they received regarding the European legal position prior to banning the sale of beef on the bone. [HL1109]

Lord Donoughue

The Government took full account of advice regarding the European legal position prior to introducing the Beef Bones Regulations 1997 which include the ban on the retail sale of beef on the bone.

The Earl of Haddington

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will place in the Library of the House any scientific and legal advice which they received prior to, or as part of, their consultation exercise in relation to the banning of beef on the bone. [HL1110]

Lord Donoughue

The Beef Bones Regulations 1997, which include a ban on the retail sale of beef on the bone, were introduced after the Government received advice from the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee (SEAC) that BSE infectivity had been found in the dorsal root ganglia (DRG), and possibly the bone marrow, of cattle infected experimentally with BSE. A copy of SEAC's advice is available in the Library of the House along with copies of all the responses received to the consultation on the proposals for legislation. The Chief Medical Officer's advice was the subject of a News Release issued by the Department of Health on 5 December 1997, also available in the Library. It is not the practice to publish legal advice given to the Government.

The Earl of Haddington

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Who has been awarded the consultancy and on what date they expect to establish the cattle traceability system for the United Kingdom, and:

  1. (a) where it is proposed to site the headquarters;
  2. (b) how many people it is expected to employ;
  3. (c) who is to be appointed as its chief executive;
  4. (d) what computer equipment and software is to be employed and at what cost;
  5. (e) on what date the system will be operational as a pilot project; and
  6. (f) on what date they expect the scheme to be fully operational. [HL1111]

Lord Donoughue

PA Consulting Group were awarded a contract on 16 May 1997 to assist the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in establishing the Cattle Tracing System (CTS) in Great Britain.

The CTS will be administered by the British Cattle Movement Service (BCMS), which will be sited at Workington, Cumbria;

Once it is fully operational, the BCMS will comprise up to 260 staff;

Mr. David Evans has been appointed Director of the BCMS after an open competition;

The establishment of the CTS and the new BCMS operation at Workington involves the deployment of a variety of computer equipment and software. The main items consist of specialised scanners and scanning software, a database server and software and dedicated printing facilities.

The current estimates for the setting up of the CTS as a whole are as follows:

Estimate (£ million)
Database development (further enhancements costing up to £3 million may also take place) 6.5
Project Management 3.7
BCMS (Accommodation) 3.5
BCMS (Equipment, Services and publicity) 3.7
Total 17.3

There is expected to be some test running of CTS over the summer;

We expect CTS to be operating by late summer 1998.