Lords Hansard text for 9 Jun 2003 (230609w04)

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Badgers: Krebs Trials

Baroness Byford asked Her Majesty's Government:

Lord Whitty: The cost to date of the randomised badger culling trial (the "Krebs" trial) is about £30 million. The final report will be published after the trial is completed in 2006.

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Abattoirs

Baroness Byford asked Her Majesty's Government:

What percentage of overcapacity there is within the abattoir industry compared with the Meat Livestock Commission's figures for 1999 which showed 49 per cent for cattle, 55 per cent for sheep and 27 per cent for pigs; and[HL2987]

How many abattoirs have closed since 1999; and how many of these fall into small, medium or large band groups; and[HL2988]

Whether, in making their assumptions of overcapacity within the abattoir industry, they have taken into account the number of animals lost during the 2001 foot and mouth disease outbreak.[HL2989]

Lord Whitty: The Government do not attempt to manage the numbers and location of abattoirs in a dirigiste way: slaughtering is a commercial activity provided in response to the market. We do not intend to recreate the network of municipal abattoirs provided by local authorities prior to 1972, and have no firm view of the number of abattoirs that is "acceptable" at the national level.

It follows that we do not as a matter of course monitor the level of overcapacity in the industry; from time to time, however, the Meat and Livestock Commission does produce a snapshot analysis of overcapacity according to species but it has not updated those calculations since 1999. Overcapacity, however, is a complicated issue to analyse as some species—notably lambs—have marked seasonality in slaughtering throughout, and the slaughtering industry has rationalised into large abattoirs serving the major multiple retailers and smaller abattoirs serving more local or specialised markets.

We are concerned that in some regions the availability of abattoirs serving more specialist outlets has declined. We are keen for producers and processors to add value by developing regionally branded and other specialist types of meat. We will work closely with the regional development agencies to identify where assistance to small and medium abattoirs is needed to encourage innovation and investment in the meat supply chain. In addition, where appropriate we will also offer direct support for new or expanded facilities through the processing and marketing grant and for the associated marketing of quality products through the Rural Enterprise Scheme. The analysis of need and capacity is best carried out at the regional or sub-regional level.

Abattoirs are classified as either full or low throughput and there is no separate classification for medium-sized abattoirs. A licence may be revoked or

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surrendered for a number of reasons: these include where premises fail to comply with the requirements of regulations or cease operating for commercial reasons. Some premises which have ceased operating may still hold a licence, for example, while a buyer is found.

Between 1999 and May 2003, in England, 85 red meat abattoirs have ceased to be licensed to operate (53 low throughput and 32 full throughput); and 39 white meat abattoirs have ceased to be licensed to operate (12 low throughput and 27 full throughput). However, during the same period, 15 red meat abattoirs have gained a licence (seven low throughput and eight full throughput; and 15 white meat abattoirs have gained a licence (nine low throughput and six full throughput).

In the UK in 1999, there were 263 full throughput red meat abattoirs and 190 low throughput, compared with 238 and 141 respectively in 2003. Comparable figures for white meat abattoirs were 106 full and 64 low throughput in 1999 and 89 full and 52 low in 2003.