Slaughterhouses
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of Food Standards Agency official control charges on costs faced by medium-sized abattoirs in (a) Yeovil constituency, (b) Somerset and (c) England.
Answered by Mrs Sharon Hodgson
We have made no specific assessment of impacts at the constituency or county level. Information on the 2026/27 charge rates for official controls (inspections) conducted in meat premises is available at the following link:
https://www.food.gov.uk/business-guidance/charges-for-controls-in-meat-premises
As in previous years, the impact of charges on all abattoirs and game handling establishments will be offset by a taxpayer-funded discount, distributed so as to provide the greatest proportional support to smaller businesses. For 2026/27, a total of £11.8 million is available for discounts across England and Wales and the impact of this on different sized food businesses is set out in the Cost Data Slides the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has published.
The FSA has conducted an evaluation of the current discount scheme which began with a Call for Evidence in Autumn 2024. Extensive stakeholder engagement and consideration by the FSA Board in its public meetings has followed. This has informed proposals for a revised scheme that would direct more targeted support towards smaller abattoirs. At its public meeting on 10 December 2025 the Board agreed to a full public consultation on the proposals. The consultation was issued on 19 March 2026 and closes on 12 June 2026 and is available at the following link:
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