§ Mr. CollinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many DEFRA personnel(a) are working for all or most of the time in south Cumbria and (b) are based there. [7527]
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§ Mr. Morley[holding answer 23 October 2001]: There are currently 64 DEFRA staff based at the south Cumbria forward station at Milnthorpe consisting of TVIs, lay blood samplers and administrative staff. In addition, there are 12 field staff assigned to a forward station in Appleby. Both the Milnthorpe and Appleby staff work exclusively in south Cumbria.
Other veterinary surgeons and specialist staff are based at Carlisle. They carry out the risk assessments relating to animal movements within the Restricted Infected Area or within 3 km Protection Zones. They are also assigned to other tasks on a daily basis depending on where, in the county, there is a demand for specialist input.
§ Mr. CollinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will review the case for sending only locally based DEFRA personnel and vehicles to farms in south Cumbria; and if she will make a statement. [7526]
§ Mr. Morley[holding answer 23 October 2001]: Staff involved in the collection of samples that are needed to facilitate movements of sheep in south Cumbria are based at a work allocation station in Milnthorpe. Other specialist work, such as the risk assessment of animal movements, within the Penrith Restricted Infected Area, is carried out by specialists based in Carlisle.
§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many contractors have waited in excess of three months for payments due to them for work carried out on foot and mouth eradication. [9193]
§ Mr. Morley[holding answer 22 October 2001]: Between 1 April and 30 September 2001, the Department made payments to 7,257 suppliers of foot and mouth related services, in respect of 91,418 invoices. During this time, 214 suppliers had to wait more than 90 days in respect of 916 invoices. 82 per cent. of all payments were made within 30 days of receipt of a valid invoice.
§ Mr. CollinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will grant greater autonomy to DEBRA officials dealing with foot and mouth outbreaks and livestock movements in south Cumbria in order to speed up decisions; and if she will make a statement. [7518]
§ Mr. Morley[holding answer 18 October 2001]: National and European Community law requires that certain decisions relating to foot and mouth disease must be taken by the Chief Veterinary Officer and, in light of this accountability, it is not possible to delegate all the decision making entirely to the regions.
However, when implementing national and EU policy, full account is taken, where possible, of local circumstances.
§ David MacleanTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs since 7 June how many holdings in Cumbria have had animals slaughtered because of foot and mouth disease, broken down by(a) IPs, (c) DCs and (c) other. [5242]
§ Mr. MorleyBetween 7 June and 31 October, animals were slaughtered on 546 premises in Cumbria as a result of the foot and mouth disease outbreak. This figure may be broken down as follows.916W
Number Infected Premises (IPs) 164 Dangerous Contacts (DCs) 374 Other (Slaughter on suspicion) 8 Total 546 Source
These data were extracted from DEFRA's disease control system (DCS) database on 31 October 2001 at 15.45. The figures may be subject to some change as quality assurance of data on DCS is carried out