§ Baroness Byfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
What were the numbers of cattle slaughtered as a result of bovine tuberculosis and how much compensation was paid to farmers in the years 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and up to July 2003. [HL4731]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Whitty)Table 1, below, shows the number of cattle slaughtered under bovine TB measures in Great Britain, from 1998 to 2002 and from January to June 2003. The data are taken from Defra's most recently published national statistics (data for July 2003 not yet available).
Table 2 shows the amount of compensation paid to farmers in Great Britain for each financial year 1998–99 to 2002–03 and for April to July of this financial year.
Table 1—Number of cattle slaughtered in Great Britain under Bovine TB control measures 1998–20031 Year No of cattle slaughtered 1998 5,884 1999 6,770 2000 8,353 2001 6,256 2002 222,981 January-June 2003 213,051 1 TB reactors plus direct contacts. 2 Provisional data only.
Table 2—Compensation paid to farmers in Great Britain as a result of Bovine Tuberculosis 1998–2003 Financial year Compensation (£,000) 1998–99 3,491 1999–2000 5,303 2000–01 6,632 2001–02 9,243 2002–03 31,146 April-July 2003 28,254 2 Provisional data only. Note:
In 2001, the TB testing and control programme was largely suspended due to the foot and mouth disease (FMD) outbreak. Since testing resumed in 2002, resources have been concentrated on herds with overdue TB tests which would have had a longer period in which to contract the disease. Also the proportion of high-risk herds being tested post-FMD is greater than that prior to the outbreak. As a result, the number of TB reactors identified and slaughtered in 2002 is not comparable to those identified and slaughtered in previous years.