§ Mr. Andrew TurnerTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what law enforcement agencies and prosecuting authorities designated with legislation there are within the responsibility of her Department; and what complaints procedure is available for each. [57102]
§ Mr. Morley[holding answer 16 May 2002]: The Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), which was created on the 8 June 2001, is responsible for prosecuting offences in relation to the core Departmental functions administered by various Inspectorates or Services including; the Sea Fisheries Inspectorate, the Veterinary Field Service, the Egg Marketing Inspectorate, the Horticulture Marketing Inspectorate, the Plant Health Safety Inspectorate and the British Cattle Movement Service. It is also responsible for prosecuting offences alleged by the Forestry Commission. Each of the bodies has an established procedure for 1283W dealing with complaints. The procedure generally has three stages. Firstly the complaint is considered by managers within the Inspectorate or Service; secondly, if the complaint is not resolved it may be referred to the Departmental Complaints Adjudicator for investigation; and thirdly, if the complaint still remains unresolved the complainant may then write to their Member of Parliament and ask for the matter to be referred to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration.
DEFRA is also responsible for prosecuting offences in relation to six executive agencies; the Rural Payments Agency (RPA), the Central Science Laboratory (CSL), the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS), the Pesticides Safety Directorate (PSD), the Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA) and the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD). Complaints about the agencies referred to above are initially considered by managers within each agency and ultimately by the Chief Executive of the Agency. If the complaint remains unresolved the complainant may then write to their Member of Parliament and ask for the matter to be referred to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration.