Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will direct the FSA to publish the terms of reference and timetable for conduct of their review of current and emerging abattoir technologies and their potential regulatory use including what plans they have to consult industry stakeholders.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) works closely with the meat industry on the introduction of new technology in abattoirs. Whilst it is for businesses to determine what technology they wish to invest in and deploy, the FSA is keen to collaborate on these initiatives to understand any impacts on regulation and any associated benefits for food safety, animal welfare standards, and business growth. For example, the FSA and industry trade bodies have recently developed a joint protocol for the deployment of automated faecal contamination technology in abattoirs. The FSA also recently commissioned independent research into new technologies in meat official controls, which involved engagement with both trade bodies and individual businesses. This research will be published later this year.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many billing errors the Food Standards Agency made in charging food business operators for Official Controls in each of the last 3 years, and what was the total monetary value of these in each of these years.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) does not centrally record billing errors for Official Controls in the format requested. Therefore, it is not possible to provide a definitive count of billing errors made in charging food business operators for Official Controls, nor the total monetary value of such errors, for each of the last three years.
The FSA operates financial management and assurance processes designed to minimise errors in invoicing, including routine reconciliation and review procedures. Where errors are identified, these are corrected through our standard processes, and any necessary adjustments are made to ensure that charges accurately reflect the cost of Official Controls delivered.
The FSA continues to keep its billing and assurance processes under review to ensure accuracy, transparency, and fairness for food business operators.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the FSA last reviewed and updated the scientific evidence, research and data underpinning the Official Controls legislation referred to in PQ Answer 120762.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In 2022, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) completed an operational transformation programme and launched a new operational modernisation programme in 2023. These aim to improve the quality and cost effectiveness of the delivery of official controls through enhanced capability and better use of technology.
Beyond strategic review programmes, the FSA continually reviews how Official Controls Regulations are implemented in FSA-approved establishments and regularly updates the publicly available Manual for Official Controls. The FSA conducts and commissions research to ensure regulations remain evidence-based and proportionate.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many major food incidents have there been in each of the last 5 years and of those how many were meat related.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In responding to food and feed safety incidents and foodborne disease outbreaks, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) categorises its handling of incident responses at Routine or Non-routine levels.
Non-routine incident and outbreak responses are escalated where it is considered that their successful management requires levels of resources and authority beyond those available for routine incident handling.
In the calendar years 2021 to 2026, the FSA escalated three meat related incidents and outbreak responses to Non-routine status. This was from a total of 15 Non-routine incidents in that period. All three of these meat related incidents were escalated within the calendar year 2023. The following table shows the number of incidents/outbreak responses escalated to Non-routine status for the calendar years 2021 to 2026:
Calendar year | Number of incidents/outbreak responses escalated to Non-routine status |
2021 | 2 |
2022 | 2 |
2023 | 5 |
2024 | 3 |
2025 | 2 |
2026 | 1 |
Total | 15 |
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has made representations to representatives of the Government of Israel on the treatment of Marwan Barghouti.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is deeply concerned by reports of mistreatment of detainees by Israeli forces and raises this issue with the Israeli government. The UK has been consistently clear that all detainees must be treated with dignity and in full accordance with international law, and that such allegations must be thoroughly investigated. The UK continues to call on the Government of Israel to grant the International Committee of the Red Cross immediate and unrestricted access to all detention facilities.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to consider transplants, including stem cell and bone marrow transplants, as part of the Getting It Right First Time programme.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed
There are no current plans to consider transplants, including stem cell and bone marrow transplants, as part of the Getting It Right First Time programme. The Department is aware of challenges around the timely provision of well-matched stem cell donors, particularly for people from mixed heritage or ethnic minority backgrounds, and therefore instead intends to review the factors underlying this and the system supporting stem cell donation.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that the Food Standards Agency is subject to an appropriate level of Parliamentary scrutiny.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) was established by the Food Standards Act 1999 as a non-ministerial Government department. The FSA is accountable to the Westminster Parliament, the Senedd, and the Northern Ireland Assembly through health ministers in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland respectively.
The FSA’s annual report and accounts are laid before the Westminster Parliament, the Senedd, and the Northern Ireland Assembly. The 2024/25 report is available at the following link:
The FSA is accountable to Parliament directly through select committees and regularly engages with them. The Chief Executive of the FSA recently gave oral evidence to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee in October 2025 and the Industry and Regulators Committee in January 2026.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will bring food businesses responsible for processing meat and meat products in line with the regulatory approach used elsewhere in the food industry by allowing them to be fully responsible for the product they produce.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) supports evidence‑based use of technology in Official Controls, but inspection requirements in abattoirs are set in assimilated European Union law Regulation, and are prescriptive, and divergence could restrict British access to the EU and other markets. The FSA has commissioned a review of current and emerging abattoir technologies and their potential regulatory use and is sharing learning internationally to inform future modernisation while maintaining food safety and animal health and welfare standards.
The FSA applies a science-based, evidence led approach to delivery of official controls. Decisions are informed by risk assessments, data analysis, and established scientific principles to ensure that controls are proportionate, targeted, and effective, and adopt risk-based decisions, for example in the setting of audit frequencies, microbiological testing requirements for food business operators or its own enforcement activity.
Under Article 1 of assimilated Regulation (EC) 852/2004, meat businesses are legally responsible for the safety and compliance of the food they produce, as in other sectors. However, Official Controls for meat are more prescriptive in legislation than for many other foods, so any move to a different delivery model would require legislative change.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason the meat processing industry is subject to permanent on‑site regulatory presence and inspection of every item; what the evidentiary basis is for this practice; and how this level of oversight compares with that applied to other industries.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The official controls legislation, Regulation (EU) 2017/625, sets clear requirements to undertake ante-mortem and post-mortem official inspections and the verification of compliance with food law, animal health, and welfare rules in slaughterhouses and game handling establishments. To perform these official controls, it is necessary to have official physical presence.
This level of regulatory presence is limited to those activities identified as presenting the highest risk to the food chain. Meat processing establishments are not generally subject to such supervision unless they are also engaged in those high-risk activities.
Conformance with these requirements is critical to protect public health, animal health and welfare, assure food safety and underpin international trade in products of animal origin.
The legislation provides for certain flexibilities in the way official controls are delivered.
The legislation is drafted to reflect scientific evidence, research and data with a strong focus on public health, animal health and welfare whilst minimising unnecessary burden for businesses.
Other industries are also subject to a regulatory framework for inspections and verification which is proportionate to the risks they present.
Asked by: Clive Betts (Labour - Sheffield South East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to introduce more effective uses of technology and science evidence-based approaches to the delivery of Official Controls by the Food Standards Agency.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) supports evidence‑based use of technology in Official Controls, but inspection requirements in abattoirs are set in assimilated European Union law Regulation, and are prescriptive, and divergence could restrict British access to the EU and other markets. The FSA has commissioned a review of current and emerging abattoir technologies and their potential regulatory use and is sharing learning internationally to inform future modernisation while maintaining food safety and animal health and welfare standards.
The FSA applies a science-based, evidence led approach to delivery of official controls. Decisions are informed by risk assessments, data analysis, and established scientific principles to ensure that controls are proportionate, targeted, and effective, and adopt risk-based decisions, for example in the setting of audit frequencies, microbiological testing requirements for food business operators or its own enforcement activity.
Under Article 1 of assimilated Regulation (EC) 852/2004, meat businesses are legally responsible for the safety and compliance of the food they produce, as in other sectors. However, Official Controls for meat are more prescriptive in legislation than for many other foods, so any move to a different delivery model would require legislative change.