§ Lord Gregsonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will implement the recommendation of the Rayner Scrutiny of Fisheries R & D that staff at Burnham Laboratory should be recruited to increase the sampling of loads of industrial waste for dumping at sea from 1 per cent. to 7 per cent. and to return the monitoring programme to schedule; and, if so, when; and
Whether they intend to implement the recommendation of the Select Committee on Science and Technology (1st Report, Session 1980-81) that samples of industrial wastes dumped at sea should be increased to 10 per cent. of the voyages made; and, if so, when.
The Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Earl Ferrers)Having considered the recommendation of the Select Committee, Her Majesty's Government have decided to increase the sampling of loads of industrial waste for dumping at sea to 7 per cent. I consider such a level of inspection satisfactory. This has entailed the creation of one additional inspectoral post at the Burnham Laboratory. Recruitment procedures for this post are in hand and an appointment has already been made to fill a temporary vacancy which arose after the Select Committee carried out its study.
Before Her Majesty's Government reach any firm decisions on the remaining recommendations in the draft Report of the Rayner Scrutiny of Fisheries Research and Development, including those on the monitoring programme, consultations will be held with the industries concerned and the Trade Union Side of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.