§ Captain TERRELLasked the Minister of Agriculture whether his attention has 1549W been called to the plight of the workers who have suffered from the slaughter of herds in Oxfordshire as the result of the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease; and whether, as many men have lost their employment, and received nothing and are outside the Unemployment Insurance Act, he will consider if any compassionate grant can be made to them from any existing sources?
§ Mr. BUXTONOutbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease have not been very numerous in Oxfordshire, and I am not aware that many agricultural, workers have lost their employment on that account. In most areas in which slaughtering has occurred the majority of the workers on the farms concerned have, I understand, usually found other work, either on the same farm or elsewhere. The provisions of the Diseases of Animals Acts do not cover the payment of compensation in such cases, and I have no funds at my disposal from which compassionate grants could be made. I will, however, scud an officer into the area to Offer any possible assistance with regard to obtaining alternative employment.