§ Mr. Peter AinsworthTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what requests she has received from Northumberland county council for her Department to provide evidence to Professor Dower inquiry into the foot and mouth outbreak; what response she has made; and if she will make a statement. [28187]
§ Margaret Beckett[holding answer 17 January 2002]: Northumberland county council notified me of the inquiry they had established and their invitation for written comments. In reply we forwarded comments on a series of topics which were likely to be of interest to the inquiry. Subsequently we have received some specific questions from Professor Dower and the inquiry team and a reply has been sent to meet their deadline.
§ Mr. Peter AinsworthTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to her answer of 23 October 2001,Official Report, column 164W, on the costs of the foot and mouth outbreak, what the present estimate is of the total cost to public funds of the foot and mouth outbreak. [28243]
§ Margaret Beckett[holding answer 17 January 2002]: The latest estimate of the cost of the foot and mouth disease outbreak stands at £2,059 million.
This includes a provisional forecast of £19 million for costs to MOD and other Government Departments. We are still awaiting costs from five other Government Departments but these amounts are expected to be very small.
§ Mr. Peter AinsworthTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what efforts she made to ensure value for money from contractors employed to assist with culling and farm clean-up work during the foot and mouth outbreak. [28184]
§ Margaret Beckett[holding answer 17 January 2002]: We have made extensive use of professional project managers, quantity surveyors and forensic accountants to ensure value for money is attained on contracts placed during the foot and mouth crisis.
These have been supported as necessary by legal and procurement experts.