§ Mr. BakerTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many of his(a) Department's and (b) Agencies officials have been assaulted in the course of slaughterhouse inspections in each of the last five years; how many prosecutions followed the assaults; and what action his Department is taking to minimise the number of assaults. [63379]
§ Mr. Rooker[holding answer 15 January 1999]: The number of Departmental, mainly State Veterinary Service officials who have been subjected to intimidation at slaughterhouses is as follows:
- 1993–94: 0
- 1994–95: 7
- 1995–96: 0
- 1996–97: 1
- 1997–98: 0.
No prosecutions followed these incidents.
The Meat Hygiene Service (MHS), which was established on 1 April 1995, does not have information available on a year by year basis.
However, in response to evidence that MHS operational staff were being subjected to violence and/or intimidation, a survey was sent out to all 1,540 MHS operational staff in January 1998. It sought information on all incidents which inspectors had been involved with throughout their entire careers, not just since the launch of the MHS.
759 responses were received. 1 in 4 operational staff indicated that they had been subject to some form of violence and/or intimidation at some point. However, the most common instances related to verbal abuse/threats and not physical assault or obstruction. 17 MHS staff had been subjected to physical assault at some point.
Reported cases of physical assault are investigated with a view to prosecution under the Criminal Justice Act 1988. Obstruction of MHS staff in the performance of their duties is an offence under the Food Safety Act 1990. All reported cases are thoroughly investigated by MAFF Investigations Officers and prosecutions taken where it can be shown that MHS staff have been hampered from carrying out their meat inspection duties.
To date, 5 successful prosecutions have been taken.