§ Captain BOWYERasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture whether he is aware that an order was issued in July for Leicestershire and Northamptonshire that all sheep were to be dipped twice within 14 days; that as a result of this order being carried out over 100 sheep have died; who is responsible for this order and from whom damages should properly be claimed; and whether he will cause the whole question of these sheep-dipping orders to be investigated so that at least sufficient notice shall be given to prevent future orders overlapping, and to enable those affected to protest where necessary?
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Sir A. BOSCAWENThe reply to the first part of the question is in the affirmative, except that the order was issued on 26th June. As regards the second part a certain number of losses attributed to double dipping have been reported to the Ministry, but full details are not yet available. The double dipping order imposed in Leicestershire and Northamptonshire, according to which sheep have to be dipped twice within a period of 14 days in a dip approved by the Ministry, was one of a number of orders applied to various parts of England, Scotland and Wales in pursuance of the Ministry's policy for the eradication of sheep scab. The reports which have reached the Ministry indicate that the losses in question have been due to the use of a poisonous dip for the second dipping. In this connection it was expected that the advice given by the Ministry on the subject of the use of sheep dips, especially as regards the choice of a non-poisonous dip for the second dipping, would have prevented the losses in question.