§ Mr. MealeTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he has any plans to make compulsory the formal training of transporter drivers and slaughtermen in the United Kingdom.
§ Miss WiddecombeThere are no plans to make the formal training of transporter drivers compulsory. Requirements for the training of slaughtermen are the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. There are already requirements for the training of poultry slaughtermen in the Slaughter of Poultry (Licenses and Specified Qualifications) Regulations 1991. A consultation document on the training of red meat slaughtermen was issued in December 1993; responses are being considered.