HL Deb 25 April 2002 vol 634 cc55-6WA
Lord Campbell-Savours

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will list all the inquiries being carried out into the outbreak of foot and mouth, whether sponsored by local government, national government or other organisations. [HL3782]

Lord Whitty

There are a number of inquiries that have been or are being carried out into the 2001 foot and mouth disease (FMD) outbreak of which the Government are aware.

On 9 August the Prime Minister announced two independent inquiries into the outbreak, namely the Lessons Learned inquiry and the Royal Society study.

Both the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committees of the House of Commons have reported on FMD, the latter in respect of tourism. In addition, the National Audit Office is preparing a report on the FMD outbreak. Going wider than Great Britain, the European Parliament has established a temporary committee to investigate FMD.

The Royal Society of Edinburgh is looking into the impact of FMD in Scotland, the Welsh Assembly Agriculture and Rural Development Committee is conducting a scrutiny of FMD in Wales and PricewaterhouseCooper is carrying out a review of FMD in Northern Ireland.

Some local authorities have carried out inquiries into the FMD outbreak in their own areas: in particular Devon, Northumberland, Gloucestershire and Shropshire. Cumbria County Council has also announced such an inquiry.

Other organisations will also be reviewing their roles and experiences during FMD, although we do not have details of these centrally.