§ Baroness Maddockasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will designate the Berwick Borough and Alnwick District areas of Northumberland as foot and mouth disease-free areas. [HL1584]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food arid Rural Affairs (Lord Whitty)The reclassifying of a county to free status firstly requires that county to have had no new cases of foot and mouth disease for a period of at least 90 days and for the necessary serological testing to be complete and to satisfy the Chief Veterinary Officer's requirements. The last confirmed case in Northumberland was on 29 September. It cannot be reclassified as foot and mouth disease-free until 28 December at the earliest. With regard to the possibility of splitting the county, local interests have been consulted in Northumberland and the majority viewpoint is that the county should remain a single entity for the purposes of the AMLS.