§ Mr. PaiceTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list by county(a) the number of dairy herds, (b) the number of tuberculosis herd tests in 1997 and (c) the target intended for testing herds. [28032]
819W
§ Mr. RookerCensus data show holdings on which there are dairy herds. Some holdings may have more than one dairy herd and this will not be reflected in the figures at(a) below. For England the data relate to June 1996; for Wales they also relate to June 1996 and to Government Office Regions, not counties. Census data for Scotland relate to June 1997.
TB herd tests at (b) include tests carried out on all cattle herds, beef and dairy. A further breakdown is not available. Figures are available by county but not for the Government Office Regions in Wales.
820W
County (a) Holdings with dairy cows (b) TB herd tests Northumberland 166 10 Tyne and Wear 18 0 Durham (ex Darlington) 285 292 (Durham) Cleveland and Darlington 63 42 (Cleveland) Cumbria 2,061 1,014 Lancashire 1,430 548 Cheshire 1,428 453 Greater Manchester 194 118 Merseyside 31 12 North Yorkshire 1,678 725 East Riding of Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire (Humberside) 150 204 West Yorkshire 371 316 South Yorkshire 199 111 Derbyshire 949 440 Nottinghamshire 165 152 Lincolnshire 189 178 Leicestershire and Rutland (Leicestershire) 460 172 Northamptonshire 152 109 Staffordshire 1,362 723 Shropshire 1,140 756 Hereford and Worcester 650 1,453 West Midlands 44 30 Warwickshire 281 118 Norfolk 216 232 Suffolk 148 144 Cambridgeshire 51 101 Bedfordshire 52 38 Hertfordshire 78 66 Essex 123 128 Greater London 24 15 Surrey 116 77 Kent 188 149 East Sussex 202 194 West Sussex 205 94 Hampshire 306 215 Isle of Wight 80 3 Oxfordshire 228 146 Buckinghamshire 182 135 Berkshire 85 55 Gloucestershire 546 1,455 North Somerset and South Gloucestershire 436 775 (Avon) Wiltshire 733 900 Somerset 1,422 1,031 Dorset 884 498 Devon 2,532 3,563 Cornwall and Isles of Scilly 1,495 3,490 Aberdeen 137 381 Angus 25 122 Argyll 130 249 Ayr 573 415 Banff 32 178 Berwick 28 70 Bute 50 47 Caithness 28 126 Clackmannan 1— 5 Dumfries 323 236 Dumbarton 40 38
Country (a) Holdings with dairy cows (b) TB herd tests East Lothian 8 27 Fife 78 113 Inverness 65 113 Kincardine 34 54 Kinross 11 36 Kirkcudbright 162 161 Lanark 316 186 Midlothian 28 41 Moray 30 75 Nairn 11 15 Orkney 61 190 Peebles 10 29 Perth 50 215 Renfrew 85 71 Ross and Cromarty 54 69 Roxburgh 16 87 Selkirk 1— 22 Shetland 21 60 Stirling 77 72 Sutherland 18 34 West Lothian 37 28 Wigtown 239 154 North East Wales 894 — Powys 528 — South Wales 546 — North West Wales 411 — Ceredigon 644 — Pembrokeshire 886 — Carmarthenshire 1,261 — Powys — 671 Gwynedd — 589 Clwyd — 542 West Glamorgan — 85 Mid Glamorgan — 94 South Glamorgan — 44 Gwent — 713 Dyfed — 1,747 1 denotes data withheld due to small numbers In most areas of Great Britain, cattle herds are tested every four years. However, in areas or herds where there is a higher risk of disease, the testing frequency is increased, and may be as frequent as annually.
§ Mr. PaiceTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the cost of compensation payments to farmers for cattle infected with tuberculosis in each of the last five years. [28030]
§ Mr. RookerCompensation paid in Great Britain in respect of animals slaughtered as TB reactors or contacts was as follows:
- 1993—£2.18 million
- 1994—£2.02 million
- 1995—£1.99 million
- 1996—£2.28 million
- 1997—£2.22 million.
§ Mr. PaiceTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list by county the total number of herds affected by tuberculosis outbreaks in 1997, separately identifying those where no previous outbreak had been recorded for 10 years. [28029]
§ Mr. RookerThe information listed reflects the number of herds which have been confirmed as being affected by tuberculosis in 1997. The figures are not complete, since we do not yet have laboratory culture 821W confirmations for all herds which were suspected of having bovine tuberculosis in 1997. The figures include those herds which continued to be affected (during at least part of 1997) with confirmed disease from previous years and those newly affected in 1997.
In the time available, it has not been possible to identify those herds in which no previous outbreak has been recorded for 10 years, but I will write to the hon. Member with the information when it is available.
822W
County 1997 total confirmed TB herd breakdowns Northumberland 7 Durham 0 Cumbria 1 Cheshire 4 Merseyside 0 West Yorkshire 1 Humberside 0 Nottinghamshire 1 Leicestershire 2 Staffordshire 35 Hereford and Worcester 198 Warwickshire 1 Suffolk 0 Bedfordshire 0 Essex 3 Surrey 0 East Sussex 10 Hampshire 0 Oxfordshire 1 Berkshire 0 Wiltshire 84 Somerset 63 Devon 251 Isles of Scilly 0 Powys 29 Clwyd 0 Mid Glamorgan 3 Gwent 139 Tyne and Wear 0 Cleveland 0 Lancashire 1 Greater Manchester 0 North Yorkshire 0 South Yorkshire 0 Derbyshire 5 Lincolnshire 2 Northamptonshire 3 Shropshire 6 West Midlands 0 Norfolk 1 Cambridgeshire 0 Hertford 0 Greater London 0 Kent 0 West Sussex 1 Isle of Wight 0 Buckinghamshire 1 Gloucestershire 230 Avon 60 Dorset 33 Cornwall 283 Gwynedd 2 West Glamorgan 5 South Glamorgan 0 Dyfed 92 Aberdeenshire 8 Kincardine 1 Orkney 0
County 1997 total confirmed TB herd breakdowns Caithness 2 Inverness-shire 1 Ross and Cromarty 0 Angus 1 Dumbartonshire 1 Kinross 0 Perthshire 0 Stirling 0 Dumfriesshire 4 East Lothian 1 Lanarkshire 1 Midlothian 0 Wigtown 4 Selkirk 0 Banffshire 1 Moray 0 Argyll 1 Shetland 0 Nairn 0 Sutherland 0 Clackmannan 0 Fife 0 Ayrshire 4 Bute 2 Berwickshire 0 Dumbartonshire 0 Kirkcudbright 6 Renfrew 0 Peebles 1 Roxburgh 0 West Lothian 0
§ Mr. PaiceTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what estimates he has made of the cost of implementing the recommendations contained in the Krebs Report on badgers and bovine TB. [28028]
§ Mr. RookerThe Government have indicated that they are disposed to accept the recommendations of the Krebs Report on TB in cattle and badgers subject to further consideration of the public expenditure, legal and practical implications. We are consulting on how the recommendations should be implemented. The cost implications are potentially substantial. We are currently assessing these.