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Farriers’ Qualification (European Recognition) Regulations 2008

My Lords, I should like to add a few words as well, and I have some questions for the Minister. I thank the noble Lord, Lord Addington, for bringing this forward; he should not apologise for not being a horse-rider or for not being as knowledgeable as some other noble Lords who have spoken. It is good that someone outside the particular interest realises that there is a problem. I understand from the memorandum that the consultation was launched on 7 November 2007 and closed on 19 December. Why was it not a proper 12-week consultation? Clearly it was not, and with the run-up to Christmas perhaps there were not as many responses as there might have been. While I have no particular current interest to declare, I, like many other noble Lords, rode horses and ponies from a tiny age and fell off too many times with resulting broken bones. We were always brought up to make sure that we heeded the importance of having horses well shod. Any horse with a slightly damaged foot is much more likely to be jumpy and not such a safe ride. From a young age, we always had qualified farriers who looked after our animals, which was extremely important. I gather that concerns were raised during the consultation. How many were there and what happened to them? Did they go to Defra directly, the farriers, or the Worshipful Company of Farriers? It is extremely important to know that. I reinforce what other noble Lords have said about the qualifications being unequal. Clearly, work experience is not the same as proper professional qualifications. Can the Minister tell us how many of the countries that are likely to have people applying to perform farrier work in this country have different systems? I suspect that there are many, and in some countries there are probably no systems at all. It is important for us to have that information if it is available. The importance of the safety of riding, particularly in a country where riding is becoming increasingly important, lies at the heart of this short debate. Thousands of children aged four, five, six, seven and eight ride ponies and the last thing we want to do is put any of them at risk purely because we have adopted a directive which lowers the standard that we in this country think is so important. One of my colleagues raised the question about the Government’s stance when this was discussed. I hope that the Government lobbied heavily on it. Did they seek a derogation from these proposals? If not, why not? Whereas we normally set the standards and say that everyone must rise to them, it is very odd to have to accept lower standards for those who carry out farrier work in this country. Lastly, what will happen if someone who comes from abroad is found to be inadequate? Will that person be treated, as our farriers would be, and go to appeal? What happens if that person is found guilty and does not have enough money? I am not sure what will happen if the work is unacceptable—I was going to say shabby—and I seek clarification.