Day 089 - 15 Feb 95 - Page 09
1 Q. They must have been in work then for at least a year before
2 you joined them?
3 A. Yes, they were.
4
5 Q. So far as you were aware, what was the purpose of doing
6 this work and producing this report?
7 A. Well, the purpose of the reports is to advise the
8 Minister of Agriculture if any changes are required, either
9 in codes of practice or legislation, to the way that
10 animals are kept and in this case broiler chickens.
11
12 Q. Did the stimulus for this report come from the council or
13 did it come from the government, do you know?
14 A. I am not sure exactly how they review when reports are
15 being produced, but there is a permanent Secretariat to the
16 Farm Animal Welfare Council who worked for the Ministry of
17 Agriculture and I think they are involved in briefing the
18 Minister as to when, perhaps, changes in legislation or
19 updates are required.
20
21 Q. Can you just help us finally on this page, please -- just
22 doing my own head count -- about Professor Spedding, what
23 is he a professor of? He is Chairman of the Council?
24 A. Yes, he is retired now. He was a Professor of
25 Agriculture at Reading University and is well-known for his
26 academic work and teaching.
27
28 Q. Does he have any, what shall I say, industry taint attached
29 to him?
30 A. No, I think he is regarded as somebody who is very
31 willing to look at the scientific aspects of farming,
32 rather than being in the hands of any particular
33 organisation.
34
35 Q. In your work at Sun Valley, indeed before, have you come
36 into contact with the people in the Ministry of Agriculture
37 -- is it called the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and
38 Food nowadays?
39 A. Yes, it is.
40
41 Q. MAFF, let us call it for short, if we may. The people in
42 MAFF have responsibility for animal welfare?
43 A. Before I -- as part of my work in Sun Valley before
44 I joined Farm Animal Welfare Council, I only had very arm's
45 length dealings with them, so the answer, really, is not
46 very much contact.
47
48 Q. Do you see MAFF people down at the farm, as it were?
49 A. I have a lot of contacts with MAFF in various forms.
50 We require export certificates and licences to export stock
51 or export products. We have a, MAFF supervision is an
52 important part of the way we run or factories. So, I have
53 a lot of day, well, if not day-to-day, at least week to
54 week contact with the MAFF.
55
56 Q. What sort of level of MAFF official do you meet day-to-day
57 or week to week?
58 A. It varies enormously. They have lots of different
59 grades of people, but the day-to-day contact would be with
60 veterinary officers and then with senior officers as and
