§ Mr. Home RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland by what mechanisms his Department is able to identify the cattle assessed as being at risk from BSE which require to be slaughtered under the Florence56W agreement; how many such cattle there are in Scotland; and what is the minimum practical time scale for completing that accelerated cull in Scotland. [2137]
§ Mr. Raymond S. RobertsonData on all herds with confirmed cases of BSE are held at the Central Veterinary Laboratory. This data can be used to identify the herd of birth of BSE cases—and hence animals subject to the same feeding regimes; that is, the birth cohorts. To identify all these at-risk animals, it is necessary to visit the herds of origin, to identify the cohort animals remaining in such herds and finally to determine the present location of cohort animals which have moved to other herds. This involves detailed inspection of records. In May of this year, the CVL made an estimate that a maximum of some 127,000 cohort animals were present on farms in Britain, of which some 4,300 were in Scotland. Given the need for on-farm visits and reference to on-farm records, it is impossible to give a reliable estimate of how long it would take to identify all these animals.
§ Mrs. Ray MichieTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage and total amount of BSE eradication and compensation scheme expenditure has been received by(a) farmers, (b) slaughterers,(c) renderers and (d) other recipients; and if he will make a statement. [2161]
§ Mr. RobertsonBetween April and October 1996, the total expenditure on BSE eradiation and compensation schemes broken down by recipient was as follows:
£ million Per cent. (a) Farmers 477 68 (b) Slaughterers 97 14 (c) Renderers 78 11 (d) Other Recipients 48 7 700