Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (Hansard, 19 April 1990)

§ 27. Mr. Sean Hughes
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what has been the cost to date of the bovine spongiform encephalopathy slaughter and compensation schemes.

§ 56. Mr. Tony Lloyd
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what has been the cost to date of the bovine spongiform encephalopathy slaughter and compensation scheme.

§ Mr. Maclean
From the introduction of the compulsory slaughter policy on 8 August 1988 to the end of February 1990, the total cost was £6,436,167.

§ 34. Mr. Matthew Taylor
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what further action he proposes to reduce the risk of bovine spongiform encephalopathy; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Maclean
The Government have introduced a comprehensive package of measures to tackle BSE in cattle and to eliminate the remote risk to public health.

§ 52. Mr. George Howarth
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the estimate of the Southwood committee of the level of reporting of bovine spongiform encephalopathy; what is the current level of reporting; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Maclean
The Southwood working party did not predict the level of reporting of suspect BSE cases. It did, however, make certain estimating assumptions about the development of the disease and concluded that there might be some 350 to 400 cases of BSE per month. Since the beginning of this year, the number of suspect BSE cases notified to the Ministry has risen and at present around 350 to 400 are being reported each week.