§ Ian StewartTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the Department Accounting Officer has decided that he will 643W take steps to recover the public money committed to the Institute for Animal Health study into sheep TSEs. [60378]
§ Margaret BeckettIn his capacity as the Departmental Accounting Officer, the Permanent Secretary for DEFRA has secured the assurance of the BBSRC, IAH's sponsoring organisation, that the sum of £100,000 has been invested to examine and improve quality control procedures for the specialist work that IAH carries out on behalf of DEFRA. This investment equates to the value of the work which IAH undertook into the TSE experiments. There were unique features surrounding this particular experiment and we recognise the outstanding contribution that IAH has made in this field of research. I believe that this outcome satisfactorily resolves the issues for both the Department and the Institute.