§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what estimate he has made of the time it will take before the radioactive products from the accident at Chernobyl will be reduced to a level to permit the return to normal hill farming.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythIt is not possible to offer a reliable estimate of the time by which radioactivity levels in all sheep in the Scottish restricted areas will have fallen below the Government's action level.
Only a very small proportion of hill farms have been subject to controls on sheep movements, and the administration of these controls is designed to ensure the minimum disruption to normal farming practices on restricted farms. Research and monitoring of radioactivity levels in sheep on restricted farms continues, with the aim of releasing the remaining restricted farms when this can be done without compromising the safety of the food chain.