§ Mr. GillTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many veterinary surgeons were employed on duties associated with abattoirs in each of the past 18 months. [131101]
§ Ms StuartI am advised by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) that the number of veterinary surgeons employed by or on behalf of either the FSA (and previously the Joint Food Safety and Standards Group (JFSSG) of the Department of Health and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food) or its executive agency, the Meat Hygiene Service (MHS), on duties associated with abattoirs in Great Britain for each of the past 18 months is as follows:
406W
month MHS JFSSG/FSA 1 1999 January 472 10 February 476 10 March 490 10 April 478 10 May 497 10
Month MHS JFSSG/FSA 1 June 505 10 July 507 10 August 546 10 September 521 10 October 539 10 November 520 10 December 528 10 2000 January 521 10 February 505 10 March 517 10 April 532 9 May 503 9 June 523 9 1 FSA since 1 April 2000 MHS veterinary surgeons are employed throughout Great Britain on meat hygiene, inspection and animal welfare duties as well as the enforcement of specified risk materials (SRM) controls. The vast majority of these staff are employed on a contract basis. These contracts relate to individual plants and to a specific number of hours. The above figures therefore do not equate to full-time equivalent figures which are considerably less.
Veterinary Meat Hygiene Advisers have been employed by or on behalf of the Food Standards Agency since its established on 1 April 2000. Prior to this they formed part of the JFSSG. They play a major role in the audit of the MHS, the licensing of meat plants and other activities in England. In Scotland and Wales, these duties are carried out by staff of the State Veterinary Service (SVS).
SVS staff throughout Great Britain may also from time to time visit abattoirs on other official business. The above figures do not include veterinary surgeons employed by the SVS who undertake any of these other duties.