§ The Duke of Montroseasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many herds of cattle and how many individual animals are contained in the current backlog of tuberculosis tests; and when they expect this backlog to be reduced. [HL4003]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Whitty)Just under 26,000 herds currently have overdue TB tests. This represents about a quarter of the herds in Great Britain. Exact figures on the total number of cattle in herds with overdue tests are not available except at disproportionate cost but it is estimated that the number may be between 2.5 and 3 million cattle.
It is not yet possible to say when the backlog of TB tests will be cleared.
§ The Duke of Montroseasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they have any plans to increase the frequency of routine herd tests for bovine tuberculosis in (a) Wales or (b) the rest of the country; and, if so, what the frequency would be [HL4004]
§ Lord WhittyThe frequency of routine testing for bovine tuberculosis (TB) is set at parish level. This ranges from annual testing in parishes with known 129WA higher incidence of bovine TB to once every four years in areas with low or no disclosed incidence of bovine TB. Large parts of the West Midlands, South West of England and South and West of Wales are already under annual or biennial testing.
The frequency of testing in parishes is kept constantly under review by divisional veterinary managers and adjusted to take into account the incidence of confirmed TB breakdowns. In Wales the Veterinary Field Service carries out TB control on behalf of the Welsh Assembly Government. A similar arrangement exists in Scotland.