§ Dr. StrangTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to her answer of 14 June,Official Report, column 441, how the percentage of United Kingdom herds with adult breeding cattle that had experienced at least one case of BSE, as given in "Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy in Great Britain, A Progress Report", published by her Department in March 1994, was calculated; and if she will give the percentage for the latest available date.
§ Mrs. Gillian ShephardThe figure in the progress report is for Great Britain, not the United Kingdom, and is the best estimate available using information collected by the state veterinary service about confirmed cases of BSE and agricultural census data.
The percentage of herds that have experienced BSE is calculated by using data from the agricultural census on the number of holdings with dairy cows plus the number of holdings with beef cows as the denominator. This introduces a small error as those holdings with both dairy and beef cows will be counted twice. Those categories will also include some holdings with non-adult animals intended for breeding but not separately identifiable. As the agricultural census collects data on "holdings" only—rather than herds—and information on BSE database relates to "herds", counting of some holdings twice is considered to give the most accurate estimate for the denominator, particularly as each holding may comprise two or more herds.