§ Mr. PicklesTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what weighting was given to the journey time of livestock in recent award of contracts to abattoirs by the Intervention Board under the over 30 month scheme. [102359]
§ Ms QuinThe Intervention Board, which is responsible for the administration of the over thirty month scheme (OTMS), attaches considerable importance to ensuring that sufficient slaughtering capacity is available in the right areas to minimise the travelling time for animals entering the scheme, consistent with the need to protect the public purse and ensure a good quality service. Tenders were grouped and evaluated by region to ensure that all areas received a reasonable level of service. East Anglia and South East England were grouped as a single region in view of the relatively small number of cattle coming forward from these areas for slaughter. As a result of the changes being introduced following the tender, some journey times will, inevitably, increase, but in no case will journey times exceed those laid down in animal welfare guidelines. Some journey times will decrease. Farmers will continue to be able to access the scheme through the network of 170 markets registered to collect OTMS cattle.
§ Mr. PicklesTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will rank in order of importance the criteria(a) past trade record, (b) location, (c) quality of service, (d) ability to offer a dedicated service, (e) ease 185W of supervision, (f) throughput and (g) price used for evaluating bids in the recent award of contracts to abattoirs by the Intervention Board under the over 30 month scheme. [102356]
§ Ms QuinTenders were considered on a regional basis to ensure that sufficient capacity was contracted for the number of animals coming forward for slaughter in the region. Within this regional approach, under which East Anglia and South East England were grouped as a single region, the ranking (highest to lowest) of the criteria for evaluating bids received for OTMS slaughter services were: quality of service, price, ability to offer a dedicated service, ease of supervision and throughput (equal ranking), location.