§ Baroness Anelay of St Johnsasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is their estimate of the direct costs to the tourism industry of the foot and mouth outbreak in 2001, 2002 and 2003; and what is their estimate of the number of jobs lost and at risk in the tourism industry in the same periods as a consequence of the outbreak. [HL19]
§ The Minister of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Baroness Blackstone)The latest assessment put direct losses to tourism for 2001 at between £2 billion and £4 billion. Much will depend on the length of the outbreak and its geographical pattern. My officials are gathering further hard evidence to keep the assessment up to date. The impact in 2002 or 2003 cannot be assessed now. Since the beginning of the outbreak the Employment Service has been tracking the number of claims made for jobseeker's allowance where the claimant has identified foot and mouth disease (FMD) as a cause. The total number of claims attributable to FMD between 23 February 2001 and 1 June 2001 is around 6,500. For those whose employment has been affected by FMD there are additional measures in place, including training, reskilling and upskilling.