§ 88. Mr. WILLIAM NICHOLSONasked the Minister of Agriculture the amount estimated required for compensation for animals slaughtered under the foot-and-mouth disease regulations; from what fund is the compensation drawn; and whether any portion of the compensation falls on the local rates?
§ Major BARNSTONThe estimated amount of compensation for animals slaughtered in connection with the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease on the basis of the number of cases confirmed up to the present and deducting the estimated receipts from salvage is £599,100. Payment is made from the Cattle Pleuropneumonia Account for Great Britain, which is fed partly from Parliamentary grants and partly from drafts on the Local Taxation Accounts. Under the Diseases of Animals Act, 1894, the amount of the Parliamentary grant in respect of foot-and-mouth disease in any one year is limited to £100,000, but in view of the heavy cost of the present series of outbreaks and of the serious inroad which would have to be made on the Local Taxation Accounts the Government have decided to ask Parliament to authorise an increase in the grant from the Exchequer up to 50 per cent, of the net expenditure.