§ Mr. FrenchTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what conclusions he has drawn from the responses to his consultation document on the review of his Ministry's animal health and veterinary group, and if he will make a statement. [23231]
§ Mr. WaldegraveIn a written reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Finchley (Mr. Booth) on 24 October last, I announced the issue of a consultation document setting out the initial conclusions which I had reached in consultation with my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland and for Wales on the review of the Ministry's animal health and veterinary group.
I am grateful to the many individuals and organisations who responded to the consultation document. My right hon. Friends and I have taken into account the views expressed in reaching the following decisions.
I intend actively to pursue consultations with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and other interested bodies on my proposal to make an Order under the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 to permit tuberculin testing to be carried out by suitably qualified lay personnel working under veterinary direction. The use to be made of such a facility will be a matter for further discussion with interested organisations.
I have considered carefully the future of the voluntary livestock health schemes in the light of the comments received. I now intend the Ministry to retain responsibility for the pig health scheme, the deer health scheme, and the poultry health scheme. Fees will need to be increased as necessary to meet the full costs of the schemes, but in view of the current position of the pig industry in this country I will forgo any increase in fees in that sector over the next three years.
A number of industry organisations expressed an interest in taking over the sheep and goat health scheme and I intend to pursue discussions with them with a view to implementing a smooth handover of this scheme, with the exception of the scrapie-free category which meets the export needs for breeding animals and will be retained by the Ministry along with the existing scrapie export register.
Similarly, the EBL-free category of the cattle health scheme will be retained by the Ministry, pending achievement of national EBL-free status. But discussions 315W will be held with industry groups who have expressed an interest in taking over the other elements of the scheme.
As regards the Ministry's functions for animal welfare, I intend to proceed with my proposal. The number of visits to farms will continue at the same level but should concentrate where there is some reason to believe problems may be found. This should prove more effective than the current system of random visits.
As regards the organisational structure for this area of the Ministry, I recently announced the merger of the veterinary investigation service in England and Wales with the Central Veterinary Laboratory in an enlarged executive agency of the Ministry with effect from 1 October 1995. The agency will be responsible for the continuation in the public sector of the very important disease surveillance work carried out by the VI centres. Diagnostic services will continue to be made available to private veterinary practitioners. While it will be the responsibility of the chief executive, Dr. T. W. Little, to meet demanding targets for the efficient management of the agency, any reduction in the external availability of diagnostic services would be a matter for ministerial consideration.
Following a detailed study of the regional and divisional management structure of the veterinary field service, we intend to streamline this structure by moving from five to three regions and from 28 to 15 divisions in England, from two regions to one, and from seven to five divisions in Scotland, and by retaining one region and moving from four to three divisions in Wales. Although this will involve a concentration of administrative staff, the number of front-line veterinary staff will be maintained and will for the most part continue to be located in their existing offices. The restructuring should be mainly concluded by 1 April 1996. Consequential changes are proposed to the pay and grading of veterinary officers and their divisional heads, reflecting revised levels of responsibility and current circumstances of veterinary recruitment and retention.
Finally, I would like to record my appreciation of the loyalty and commitment shown by Ministry staff affected by the uncertainty necessarily caused by this protracted review. I believe that these decisions, once carried through, will provide a sound basis for continued effective and efficient implementation of the Government's animal health had welfare programme.