Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many slaughterhouses have been deemed non-compliant as a result of not introducing CCTV into their premises by the end of November 2018; and what steps the Food Standards Agency plans to take in respect of non-compliance.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) enforces legislation for animal welfare in slaughterhouses on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in England, where CCTV legislation applies.

All operating slaughterhouses in England were required to comply with the new CCTV legislation by 5 November 2018.

The following table shows the status of compliance on 3 December which is the most accurate available data for the status of compliance at the end of November:

Of the 56 non-compliant premises, 16 are slaughterhouses using gas stunning. Additional guidance was required on whether CCTV cameras were required inside gas stunning equipment and therefore these premises have been given until 19 December to comply. The FSA has begun enforcement action against all non-compliant slaughterhouse operators. The Agency is following its standard hierarchy of enforcement and is working with slaughterhouse operators to ensure full compliance. To date this enforcement action has involved verbal and written advice as well as formal Enforcement Notices with agreed compliance deadlines.