§ Mr. RedwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what public funding has been paid to rural businesses under the schemes announced by the Minister to help them during the foot and mouth crisis, up to Friday 20 April. [159048]
§ Mr. Meacher[holding answer 26 April 2001]: The measures we have adopted in the last few weeks to help severely affected rural businesses respond to the impact of foot and mouth disease are expected to benefit business by around £230 million at the latest estimate, but clearly many depend on take up and application by affected businesses. It is not yet possible to estimate expenditure to date by all the agencies and local partners involved.