[Report 1960] / Medical Officer of Health, Driffield R.D.C.

  • Driffield (Humberside, England). Rural District Council.
Date:
1960
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1960] / Medical Officer of Health, Driffield R.D.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    19/26 (page 17)
    roiir samples were taken and tlnee were (trade II and one (trade I all satist’actor.v. Sl.AlT.HTERHOl'SKS. At the outbreak of war in lO'-’tO, slaughtering in I'higland and Wales was earried out in about 12,0'0'f) slaughterhouses most of which were old, structurally unfit, and badly sited. When the Ministry of Food took over control in January, 1940. slaughtering was then concentrated in approximately SO'O premises. This system was both practicable and necessary and aj^ijeared to offer a basis for a future permanent policy. However, in June, 19.o4, Government control over the marketing and slaughtering of home-produced livestock came to an end and it was found that with the new developments in the mai-keting of fatstock, it was no longer advisable to aim even at moderate concentration. This sudden change of view caused concern amongst many Local Authorities who had issued slaughterhouse licences for premises which were actually below standard, but which could be alh)wed to funotion for a limited.period until centralisation had taken place. Accordingly the Interdepartmental Committee on Slaughterhouses considered a more flexible arrangement and recommended that for a limited period, private traders should be free to provide slaughterhouses of the design and size and in the places that best suited the needs of their individual businesses. After this interim period a measure of control should then be re—imposed. In 19i58 standards for construction and hygiene in slaughterhouses were made under existing legislation and supplemented in the 1958 Slaughterhouses Act with the Slaughter of Animals (Prevention of Cruelty) Regulations and the Slaughterhouses (Hygiene) Regulations. Their aim was to provide adequate slaughtering facilities for evei\v district, and to ensure the slaughtering of stock in humane conditions and the maintenance of the highest standards of hygiene, during the whole process from the reception of cattle to the distribution of the meat and offal. Detailed inspections were made of the existing slaughterhouses, and the owners were supplied with the lists of works necessary to bring their premises up to the new standard. In order to review the slaughterhouse facilities in the District generally, it was necessary to have consultation with all interested persons before the Council could formally report on existing and probable future requu’ements. For the i)urpose of consulting the persons and organisations repre- senting the interests concerned, the Council invited (by individual and press invitations) the following yx^rsons and bodies to attend or be rejjresented at a meeting at the Council’s offices: — (a) The owners and occupiers of the seven existing ])rivately owned Slaughterhou.ses in the District. (b) 'I'he National Farmers' I nion.