---

Cattle Heads

Dr. Strang: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food on what date the Government announced that the splitting of bovine heads in slaughterhouses was to be prohibited; and when that prohibition came into force. [23203]

Mrs. Browning [holding answer 28 March 1996]: Guidance was issued to local authorities on 14 June 1990 that bovine head meat must be recovered from the intact skull before the brain is removed. This guidance was subsequently enacted in the Bovine Offal (Prohibition) (Amendment) Regulation 1992, which came into force on 12 March 1992, prohibiting the removal of any meat for human consumption from the head of a bovine animal after the skull has been opened or the brain has been removed from that head. The Specified Bovine Offals Order 1995, which came into force on 15 August 1995, prohibited the removal of the brain from the head of a bovine animal.

Mr. Key: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list all plants in the United Kingdom licensed by the Government to debone cattle heads; and if he will make a statement. [24214]

Mrs. Browning [holding answer 2 April 1996]: Cattle heads, expect for the tongue, are specified bovine material and must be disposed of intact.

There is no statutory provision for the Government to approve or licence plants to debone cattle.

16 Apr 1996 : Column: 469

Slaughterhouse Hygiene

Mr. McLeish: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many slaughterhouses had yet to complete their work plans to meet the structural requirements of the Fresh Meat (Hygiene Inspection) Regulations 1992 at 31 December (a) 1993, (b) 1994 and (c) 1995. [24443]

Mrs. Browning [holding answer 2 April 1996]: There were 320 licensed red meat slaughterhouses in England operating under temporary derogations at the end of 1993, 276 at the end of 1994 and 160 at the end of 1995.

State Veterinary Service

Mr. McLeish: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the total number of staff in the state veterinary service in each year since 1989-90; and what is the planned number of staff for each year from 1996-97 to 1998-99. [24447]

Mrs. Browning [holding answer 2 April 1996]: The total number of staff in the state veterinary service in each year since 1989-90 was as detailed in the following table, which shows the number of staff in post, to the nearest full-time equivalent, at 1 April each year. The figures include staff of all grades and include staff at the veterinary investigation centres, but exclude the central veterinary laboratory.

Year	Number of staff
1989-90	791
1990-91	858
1991-92	936
1992-93	(20)1,114
1993-94	1,360
1994-95	1,383
1995-96	1,376

(20) The State Veterinary Service took over responsibility for administrative staff in animal health offices in England from 1 April 1992. These were not all recorded at 1 April 92, but are fully reflected in the 1993 figure.

On 1 October 1995, the veterinary investigation service combined with the central veterinary laboratory to form to the Veterinary Laboratories Agency and 358 posts were transferred to that agency. On 1 April 1996, 31 administrative staff were transferred to the SVS from the Welsh Office. The planned number of staff for 1996-97 is 905. Plans for 1997-98 and 1998-99 have not yet been finalised.

Waste Minimisation

Ms Ruddock: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on progress in establishing an office waste minimisation strategy for his Department indicating the targets set. [24499]

Mr. Boswell [holding answer 3 April 1993]: The principle of waste minimisation is already an intrinsic part of the Department's "green housekeeping" policy. With regard to targets set, we are awaiting the outcome of the Department's study into the appropriateness or otherwise of an environmental management system and, to avoid duplication across Government Departments, the Department of the Environment's pilot study on waste minimisation.

16 Apr 1996 : Column: 470

Civil Servants (Company Directors)

Mr. Byers: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food which serving civil servants in his Department are currently directors of companies, and if he will indicate for each (a) the name of the company concerned and (b) if the annual remuneration was (i) £1 to £5,000, (ii) £5,000 to £10,000 and (c) above £10,000.[18153]

Mr. Boswell [pursuant to his reply, 5 March 1996, c. 128]: The answer should read as follows.

A number of officials in the Department have declared their outside interests in accordance with departmental requirements. As with all employment matters, individuals' details are a confidential matter between them and their employer.

The following staff currently hold directorships under the guide to non-executive directorships for civil servants:

Mr. R. G. Purnell: H. R. Wallingford
Mr. A. R. Burne: The Albert Fisher Group plc
Mr. B. J. Harding: Cadbury Ltd.

The individuals concerned do not receive payment.

HEALTH

Emergency Services

15. Mrs. Jane Kennedy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he last met the Royal College of Nursing to discuss emergency services. [23478]

Mr. Horam: My hon. Friend the Minister for Health met representatives of the medical and nursing professions, including the Royal College of Nursing, on 21 December 1995 to consider a range of issues relating to emergency care. In addition, officials are in regular contact with representatives of the college.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

16. Mr. Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of CJD there have been in the United Kingdom over the last four years; and how many cases there have been in (a) France and (b) Germany.[23479]

Mr. Horam: The latest available data from the national CJD surveillance unit relates only to the years 1993 and 1994.

In 1993, there were 41 definite and probable cases of CJD in the United Kingdom compared with 41 in France and 21 in Germany--the latter referring to July to December only.

In 1994 the figures were: UK 54, France 47, Germany 58.

Mr. Fisher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will require the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee to place in the Library all the research evidence on which the committee based its statement of 24 March. [24526]

Mr. Horam: The findings of the national Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease surveillance unit about a previously unrecognised form of CJD will be published

16 Apr 1996 : Column: 471

by the researchers in a scientific journal as soon as practicable. I will arrange for a copy of this to be placed in the Library.

Mr. David Nicholson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made as to whether the provisional conclusions of the research commissioned by Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee about links between BSE and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease were (a) illegally and (b) prematurely disclosed to the Daily Mirror. [24666]

Mr. Horam: We have always said that we would inform the public immediately of any change in the scientific evidence for a link between bovine spongiform encephalopathy and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. It is clear that the Daily Mirror became aware that some form of public announcement was imminent some hours before the event. I have no evidence to suggest that there was an illegal disclosure of information.

Mr. Donald Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if vaccinations over the last 10 years have used (a) calf lymph and (b) other substances susceptible to BSE contamination. [24705]

Mr. Horam: We are not aware of calf lymph having been used in the manufacture of any United Kingdom licensed vaccines during the past 10 years.

All bovine materials currently used in the manufacture of UK licensed vaccines and used during the past 10 years belong to category IV in the guidelines produced by the European committee on proprietary medicinal products, "The rules governing medicinal products in the European Union", volume 3, addendum 2 "Minimising the risk of transmission of agents causing spongiform encephalopathies via medicinal products". Copies of the guidelines are available in the Library.

Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have died in each of the last three years (a) from smoking or smoking-related illnesses, (b) from CJD, (c) from road accidents and (d) from conditions related to illegal drug use. [23660]

Mr. Horam: The UK figures for the latest three years available for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, motor vehicle accidents and drug abuse are shown in the table.

Year(21)	Deaths from drug abuse(22)	Death from motor vehicle accidents	CJD deaths
1992	2,485	4,681	51
1993	2,458	3,924	45
1994	2,713	3,833	59

(21) For England and Wales, deaths for 1992 represent the number of deaths registered in that year, while deaths from 1993 are deaths which occurred in each year. Also, new procedures for coding cause of death from 1993, and the absence of medical enquiries, mean that figures for 1993 onwards may not be exactly comparable with earlier years. For most conditions, however these effects are small. More details may be found in OPCS Series DH2 for 1993, published in October 1995; copies are available in the Library.

(22) It is not possible to differentiate illegal drugs. International Classification of diseases 9th revision codes 304 (drug dependence) 305.2-305.9 (non-dependent use of drugs), 960-979 (poisoned by drugs, medicaments and biological substances).

It is estimated that in the United Kingdom about 110,000 deaths each year are smoking related.

16 Apr 1996 : Column: 472

Mr. Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have died in each of the last three years; and what proportion have died from (a) smoking-related conditions and (b) CJD. [23661]

Mr. Horam: The information for the United Kingdom for the latest three years available is shown in the table.

Year	Deaths(23)	Proportion of deaths from smoking related illness(24)	Proportion of CJD deaths
		Per cent.	Per cent.
1992	634,238	17	0.008
1993	658,481	17	0.007
1994	627,636	18	0.009

(23) Figures for Scotland and Northern Ireland are registered deaths as are the 1992 figures for England and Wales. Later figures for England and Wales are deaths which occurred in that year.

(24) The figure is based on 110,000, which is the estimated number of smoking-related deaths.

Mr. Thurnham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research conducted overseas into BSE-CJD type diseases his Department has evaluated; what assessment he has made of this research; and if he will make a statement. [23480]

Mr. Horam: The Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory committee provides the Government with expert scientific advice on BSE and CJD. This advice takes account of research in the United Kingdom and elsewhere.

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will next be meeting the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee to discuss BSE. [23468]

Mr. Horam: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has met the chairman of the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee on a number of occasions over recent weeks. He will meet the chairman again when necessary to discuss the committee's advice.

Mr. Redmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will make a statement on the dangers to the health of children of eating dog or cat food; [23325]

(2) if he will make a statement on the risks to the health of humans from handling pet foods containing mammalian meats and bonemeal. [23324]

Mr. Horam: Specified bovine materials are banned from entering the human and animal food chains, and therefore, do not enter pet food. The Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee concluded that children were not at any greater risk of any possible bovine spongiform encephalopathy infection then adults.

---