§ Baroness Byfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Statement by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 13 December (HC Deb, 113WS ), if "the eye-witness evidence, collected meticulously by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Institute for Animal Health and local authority officials who were actually present on the farm at the time (February 2001) should be considered paramount", why Ministers did not become aware of that evidence until after the showing of the video made by Northumberland County Council at Robert Waugh's trial in May 2002. [HL462]
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§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Whitty)The evidence collected by experts from the Institute for Animal Health and officials from Defra and Northumberland County Council is reflected in theOrigins of the UK Foot and Mouth Disease epidemic in 2001 report produced by the Chief Veterinary Officer. This report was sent to the FMD 2001:Lessons to he Learned Inquiry chaired by Dr Anderson, before the trial of Robert Waugh and is available on the Defra website.
§ Baroness Byfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Statement by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 13 December (HC Deb,113WS ), why "it is not possible to identify with certainty" whether sheep carcasses were to be found on Burnside Farm, given that two department officials were present at the time of the making of the video by Northumberland County Council on 24 and 27 February 2001.[HL463]
§ Lord WhittyIt is not possible to identify with certainty from the video whether any sheep carcass was present on the farm. No Defra or Northumberland County Council official found any such carcasses on the farm.
§ Baroness Byfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Statement by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 13 December (HC Deb, 113WS ), and given the trial date of Robert Waugh in May 2002, why the department did not consider it necessary to obtain copies of the Northumberland County Council video of Burnside Farm, made in February 2001, until February 2003. [HL465]
§ Lord WhittyAn official first requested a copy of the video at the time of the trial. Eye witnesses of the conditions at Burnside Farm contributed to the Defra origins report provided to the FMD 2001Lessons to be Learned inquiry, chaired by Dr Anderson.
§ Baroness Byfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Statement by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 13 December (HC Deb, 113WS), whether the swill feed supplied to Burnside Farm was the cause of the foot-and-mouth outbreak in 2001; and, if so, whether they have ascertained the source of that supply.[HL467]
§ Lord WhittyAll possible means for the introduction of FMD into Burnside Farm have been investigated. Investigations have shown no evidence that disease was introduced to the farm by animals, people, vehicles, equipment, vermin, wildlife etc. There was no evidence of disease on premises within116WA three kilometres of Burnside Farm which predates that found there.
Having investigated and eliminated all other possible sources of infection, Defra has concluded that the likeliest source of infection for the pigs at Burnside farm was meat or meat products containing or contaminated with FMD virus and that the virus could have been introduced to the pigs through the consumption of such material in unprocessed or inadequately processed waste food or the consumption of processed waste food contaminated with such material. The source of the material is unknown.