HC Deb 27 January 1998 vol 305 cc216-7W
Mr. Kirkwood

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his oral statement of 22 December 1997,Official Report, columns 677–79, if he will give a breakdown of the £2 billion provided in 1996–97 and the £1.4 billion in 1997–98 to support the beef sector, identifying what the money was spent on, and what proportion of the money was used in each year for Government food safety or public health measures. [25253]

Mr. Rooker

[holding answer 26 January 1998]: For the requested breakdown of 1996–97 expenditure, I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow, Pollok (Mr. Davidson) on 22 December 1997, Official Report, columns 488–89. The latest estimates of the equivalent figures for 1997–98 are as follows (not including the measures announced in the package, of which the beef industry's share is £72.5 million):

£ million
Non-BSE related
Suckler Cow Premium Scheme 222
Beef Special Premium Scheme 219
Hill Livestock Compensatory Allowances 52
Total (Non-BSE related) 493
BSE related
Intervention 180
Export refunds -2
Over Thirty Month Scheme 395
Calf Processing Aid Scheme 54
Rendering Industry Support 69
Animal Feed Disposal Service 2
Suckler Cow Special Payments 8
Specified Risk Material Controls 23
Selective Cull 119
MLC/LMC Promotion Payments 2
Other Measures 21
Total BSE related 871

All the above expenditure relates to measures which support the beef industry, whether through direct payments, market intervention, rebuilding consumer confidence or in meeting the terms of the Florence Agreement in order to get the export ban lifted. Expenditure listed under Specified Risk Material Controls is principally concerned with increased controls in slaughterhouses and other meat plants and can properly be regarded as necessary to safeguard public health. The exclusion of meat from animals over thirty months of age from the food chain is a public health measure, but the market support provided in respect of such animals is not, properly speaking, public health expenditure.