Mr. W. F. MITCHELLasked the Comptroller of the Household, as representing the Minister of Agriculture, what steps are being taken by his Department at the present time in the direction of research into animal diseases?
§ Sir H. BARNSTONResearch into animal diseases in England and Wales is carried on at a number of research institutes and colleges maintained or aided by grants from the Ministry. These include the Institute of Animal Pathology at Cambridge, the Royal Veterinary College, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and the Ministry's veterinary laboratory. Advisers in veterinary science are main- 1611W tained at the University Colleges at Bangor and Cardiff, and at Armstrong College, Newcastle. A special committee has been set up to conduct research into foot-and-mouth disease, and work is being carried on under the direction of this committee at a number of laboratories. The total estimated expenditure on the maintenance of this work in the present financial year is £47,000. In addition, grants in aid of capital expenditure totalling £118,650 have recently been sanctioned by the Ministry in respect of the work. Reports on the research organisation set up by the Ministry and on the work of the various bodies concerned will be found in the Report on the Work of the Intelligence Department of the Ministry for 1921–24 and the First Progress Report of the Foot-and-Mouth Disease Research Committee. These reports are published by and obtainable from His Majesty's Stationery Office.