§ Mr. Peter AinsworthTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on what basis she was convinced that the information concerning tests to establish the presence of BSE in sheep, presented to her Department by the Laboratory of the Government Chemist on 17 October would leak; who she was convinced would leak the information; and if she will make a statement. [10607]
28W
§ Margaret Beckett[holding answer 26 October 2001]: The theoretical possibility of BSE in sheep is an issue of great sensitivity, generating widespread public interest. In light of the information a scheduled meeting of SEAC was—by the decision of its chairman—cancelled at short notice. This in itself was likely to stimulate further interest. In such circumstances, it is reasonable to assume that the possibility of leaks will be much higher and their impact more serious.
A press release was issued on 17 October about what we knew for certain. This was done to avoid the risk of information on a serious issue being presented incorrectly and piecemeal. Nor did we want to exacerbate public concern—in a situation of uncertainty—by giving the impression that the Government were withholding important information.
§ Mr. Peter AinsworthTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if the results of the inquiries into the errors made by the Institute of Animal Health in relation to BSE in sheep will be made public. [9914]
§ Margaret BeckettUrgent and independent scientific inquiries have been established already. We will not know the full facts until they have reported. We will continue to keep the House and the public informed of developments.
§ Mr. Peter AinsworthTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to conduct further research into whether BSE is present in the national sheep flock; and if she will made a statement. [9918]
§ Margaret BeckettWe will carry out a thorough review of the full range of scientific studies currently being undertaken in this area. In doing so we will take account of work that is being conducted elsewhere in Europe and the views of the Food Standards Agency and the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee. Findings will be made available to the House.
§ Mr. Peter AinsworthTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what inquiries have been commissioned into the results of the Institute of Animal Health in relation to BSE in sheep; and if she will made a statement; [9921]
(2) if she will establish an independent inquiry into the failure of the research into whether BSE is present in sheep. [9912]
§ Margaret BeckettFollowing the receipt of the results of DNA testing by the Laboratory of the Government Chemist on Wednesday 17 October, an independent risk assessment company was immediately commissioned to perform a detailed audit of the Institute of Animal Health research into BSE and sheep; including how the relevant samples were stored and handled.
Additionally, the UK Accreditation Service (UKAS) has been asked to undertake to a longer time scale a rigorous assessment of the chain of custody arrangements for the IAH experiment.
§ Mr. Peter AinsworthTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will give details of all work commissioned or undertaken by(a) the Government and (b) its agencies into BSE in sheep since 29W May 1997, stating, in each case (i) which organisations have been involved in which tasks and (ii) what costs or payments have been incurred [10603]
§ Margaret Beckett[holding answer 26 October 2001]: A list of all research projects on TSEs, funded by UK funding bodies, is available on the MRC website at http://www.mrc/ac.uk/tse-2c.htm. This includes details of duration and cost of projects and the research organisations involved, as well as abstracts of the research projects.
§ Mr. Peter AinsworthTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures she is taking to achieve faster results from tests to establish whether sheep have been infected with BSE. [10615]
§ Margaret Beckett[holding answer 26 October 2001]: Work is being undertaken to develop molecular profiling techniques so that a rapid, initial indication of whether BSE is likely to be present can be obtained. This will allow screening of the material that is to be tested using conventional strain typing in mice. The latter method, which is the test that has been used to date to distinguish between scrapie and BSE is very slow, taking up to two years to complete.
Of course this area will be examined as part of the thorough review of the range of scientific studies currently being undertaken into BSE and sheep; as I announced on 22 October.