Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make a comparative estimate of the costs to the Food Standards Agency of supervising (a) non‑stun slaughter and (b) stunned slaughter; and what proportion of those costs are recovered from industry.

Operators of Food Standards Agency (FSA) approved slaughterhouses may use any legally permitted method of slaughter to meet their customer needs, provided all relevant legislative and animal welfare requirements are met. There is no legal requirement for operators to seek approval from the FSA for a particular slaughter method. As a result, slaughterhouses may lawfully carry out stunned slaughter, non‑stunned slaughter, or a combination of both.

The FSA does not record Official Veterinarian or Official Auxiliary time, associated costs, or enforcement activity by slaughter method. Consequently, the FSA does not hold data that would allow a direct comparison between stunned and non‑stunned slaughter in respect of supervision time, inspection or enforcement costs, or animal welfare non‑compliances.

Data regarding the volume of meat resulting from animals slaughtered without stunning is not collected.