HC Deb 24 March 2004 vol 419 cc838-9W
Andrew George

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) pursuant to her oral answer of 11 March 2004,Official Report, column 1640, on single farm payments, what the nature of Mr. Dring's memorandum was; for what purpose it was written; for what purpose it was submitted to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food; and whether the memorandum was requested by senior officials in MAFF; [162111]

(2) pursuant to her oral answer of 11 March 2004, Official Report, column 1640, on single farm payments, when the memorandum from Mr. Dring was (a) written and (b) received by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food; what discussions were held between Mr. Dring and his senior managers in MAFF following receipt of the memorandum; and what assessment was made of the memorandum by legal officials in MAFF; [162112]

(3) pursuant to her oral answer of 11March 2004, Official Report, column 1640, on single farm payments, who in the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food made the decision not to submit Mr. Dring's memorandum to Dr lain Anderson's inquiry into the foot and mouth outbreak. [162113]

Mr. Bradshaw

Mr. Dring wrote a personal statement during the summer of 2001 on his own initiative to document events in the light of the prospect of a court case against Robert Waugh and because he believed the information might be of help to any inquiry after the outbreak. It was not a formal report. He sought advice from his senior manager on 29 October 2001 who discussed the handling of the statement with the Department's Inquiry Liaison Unit. The statement was passed to them on 13 December 2001. The Inquiry Liaison Unit was responsible for passing to the Inquiry teams information on behalf of the Department. Individual officers retained the right to submit personal submissions, but Mr. Dring did not make a submission to the Anderson Inquiry. His personal statement is now in the Library of the House.