§ Mr. O'HaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to her answer of 16 March 2004,Official Report, column 156W, on abattoirs, how many individual case files there are in which are recorded the details of charges which are brought against abattoirs that ware withdrawn before they come to court; and where they are kept. [166078]
§ Mr. BradshawDetails of all charges laid against abattoirs for meat hygiene and animal welfare offences are recorded on individual case files. There are 49 case files relating to prosecutions brought against abattoirs in 2002 and 2003. Details of any charges withdrawn before cases came to court are recorded on the individual files, which are either retained by the Food Standards Agency at their headquarters in London or held in storage in Derbyshire.
§ Mr. O'HaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the average cost was to the Department in(a) 2002–03 and (b) 2003–04 of a charge successfully brought against an abattoir for breach of meat hygiene and animal welfare regulations. [166080]
§ Mr. BradshawThe average legal cost incurred by this Department and the Food Standards Agency in pursuit of a charge successfully brought against an abattoir for a breach of meat hygiene or animal welfare regulations was:
Per charge (£) 2002–03 1,190.04 2003–04 975.79
§ Mr. O'HaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the average cost was to the Department in financial years(a) 2002–03 and (b) 2003–04 of a charge brought against an abattoir for breach of the meat hygiene and animal welfare regulations but which it dropped before it came to court. [166091]
§ Mr. BradshawThe average legal cost incurred by both this Department and the Food Standards Agency in pursuit of charges brought against abattoirs for a breach of the meat hygiene or animal welfare regulations, which were dropped before coming to court was:
Per charge (£) 2002–03 1,426.54 2003–04 390.26