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Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the level of compensation per bovine reported with BSE for each year since 1988. [15923]
Mrs. Browning: BSE compensation is not paid in respect of bovines reported with BSE. Compensation is paid in respect of animals suspected of being infected with
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BSE and which are compulsorily slaughtered under the Animal Health Act 1981 which requires the Government to compensate farmers for animals slaughtered at their behest.It is not possible, without incurring disproportionate costs, to provide the level of compensation for each BSE suspect compulsorily slaughtered. However, the total amount of compensation paid in respect of BSE suspects slaughtered since 1988 is:
1988: £527,142
1989: £2,826,788
1990: £9,030,752
1991: £15,741,463
1992: £28,205,613
1993: £36,290,273
1994: £22,546,902
When a BSE suspect is compulsorily slaughtered the amount payable is an amount equal to the lower of either the market value of the animal or the appropriate monthly indicative market price. The figures given do not include ex-gratia payments.
Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what percentage of herds, in each year since 1988, had reported cases of BSE in cattle aged (a) one, (b) two, (c) three, (d) four and (e) five years. [15925]
Mrs. Browning: It is not possible without incurring
disproportionate costs to detail the percentage of herds in each year since 1988 which had reported cases of BSE in cattle aged one to five.
Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what evaluation he has made of the incidence of BSE in siblings of infected cattle compared with siblings of uninfected cattle. [15915]
Mrs. Browning: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Northfield (Mr. Burden) on 19 July 1994, Official Report , column 142 .
Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what information he has to identify BSE occurrence in cattle exported from the United Kingdom to Portugal. [15915]
Mrs. Browning: Portugal has reported six cases of BSE in cattle imported from the United Kingdom. Most of the Portuguese cases were born in that country.
Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the number of BSE cases in (a) 1992, (b) 1993, and (c) 1994; and what were his Department's projections for this period. [15916]
Mrs. Browning: Of the cases reported and placed under restriction in the calendar years 1992 and 1993, 36,680 and 34,371 cases respectively were confirmed. So far for 1994, 23,661 cases of BSE have been confirmed; there are, however, still some cases outstanding.
We do not make projections on the likely number of confirmed BSE cases. Projections are, however, made, for financial purposes only, on the number of BSE suspects that are likely to be slaughtered. The projections made for the financial years in question are:
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|Actually
Financial |Estimated |placed under |Of which |Of which
year |slaughterings|restriction |slaughtered |confirmed
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1992-93 |37,889 |45,569 |43,814 |37,115
1993-94 |40,000 |40,501 |38,589 |32,050
1994-95 |33,475 |<1>25,119 |<1>24,024 |<1>17,586
<1> As at 23 March 1995. There will be further cases in all categories.
Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what comparisons his Department has made between the tissue distribution of spongiform encephalopathy in cattle and spongiform encephalopathy in sheep. [15922]
Mrs. Browning: The comparative distribution of infectivity in the tissues of cattle with BSE and sheep with scrapie is covered in detail in chapter 5, and specifically in table 5.2, of the spongiform encephalopathy advisory committee's September 1994 report "Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies--A Summary of Present Knowledge and Research", HMSO London, ISBN 011 242 9874. A copy of this report has been placed in the Library of the House.
Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his projection for the number of cattle detected with BSE at age five years in 1997. [15924]
Mrs. Browning: Estimates of the future number of cases are made for submission to the public expenditure survey to secure the necessary budget for compensation payments and the incineration of carcases. It is not possible to predict the occurrence of cases in birth cohorts which have not yet been affected, or to produce precise estimates of the details of future cases born in years such as 1991 for which there have been only a small number of cases. However, because BSE has already been confirmed in some animals born in 1991, it is likely that more 1991 born animals will succumb at five years of age during 1997.
Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the in-herd BSE rate and the national rate; and if he will make a statement. [15926]
Mrs. Browning: The national rate of BSE compared with the in-herd rate since 1988 is:
0
|National |Within herd
Year |Percentage |Percentage
------------------------------------------------
1988 |0.08 |1.78
1989 |0.18 |1.91
1990 |0.35 |2.16
1991 |0.63 |2.44
1992 |0.92 |2.72
1993 |0.86 |2.43
1994 |0.59 |2.05
Figures are not available for years prior to 1988.
The decline in incidence since 1993 reflects the effect the ruminant feed ban is having on the BSE epidemic. The absence of a rise in the in-herd incidence is a further indicator that horizontal transmission is not playing a significant role in the epidemic.
Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what comparison he has made of the incidence of (a) scrapie information in sheep and (b) BSE in cattle between 1979 and 1994. [15928]
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Mrs. Browning: None. There is no direct link between scrapie infection in sheep and BSE in cattle.
BSE and scrapie were made notifiable in 1988 and 1993 respectively. Prior to this date, data on the incidences of these diseases were either not available or incomplete and cannot therefore be compared. By the time scrapie was made notifiable in 1993, the incidence of BSE was declining in response to the ruminant food ban which also applies to sheep. Any comparison of the subsequent incidences of the disease is, therefore, meaningless.
Epidemiological investigations into BSE did take into account the presence or absence of sheep on the farm, and indeed whether scrapie was present in any sheep flocks with which cattle came into contact either directly or indirectly. There was no evidence of a direct association between scrapie in sheep and BSE in cattle on the same farm.
Ruminant Protein Feed Ban
Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what information he has to quantify the amount of food banned to cattle which was previously fed to sheep. [15927]
Mrs. Browning: The ruminant protein feed ban prohibited the use of both bovine and ovine protein in feeds intended for bovines, ovines and other ruminants at the same time. The Government have no data on the amount of ant protein fed to sheep prior to the introduction of the ban. However, the industry has estimated that the amount of concentrated feed containing ruminant protein which was fed to sheep prior to the ban was in the region of 410,000 tonnes per annum. Meat and bone meal was included far less frequently in sheep rations than in feed intended for cattle.
MV Caroline
Mr. Morley: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food at what time the MV Caroline arrived at Brightlingsea port on 3 March; what time it docked and what time it was due to dock; what happened to the livestock whilst they were waiting for the MV Caroline to dock; if the animals were unloaded from the lorries, fed watered and rested in this period; if the 15-hour journey rule was adhered to; and if he will make a statement. [16002]
Mrs. Browning: On 3 March, the Caroline berthed at Brighlingsea at 23.10 hours. The animals--four truckloads of sheep and one of calves--had been conveyed to the port earlier because the police had been informed, incorrectly as it turned out, that the vessel would arrive on the previous tide.
The animals could not be returned to lairage, as the police could not guarantee safe passage through the crowd of protesters. Feeding of the lorryload of calves was successfully accomplished on the lorry. The attempt was made to unload the four truckloads of sheep, truck by truck, into a bunker area where they could be offered hay and water. However, this attempt had to be abandoned after reloading of the first lorry--completed at 19.30--because of the severe stress being caused to the sheep by their proximity to the noisy crowd of protesters who had broken through the outer gate.
The sheep were loaded into pens on board the Caroline, where hay and water was immediately available to them,
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between 23.45 and 01.20 hours. The 15-hour period since they had previously been fed and watered expired at 22.00 hours.DEFENCE
Disposal Sales Agency
Mr. Fatchett: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Ribble Valley (Mr. Evans) of 20 December 1994, Official Report , column 1197 , if he will make a statement on the progress of the Disposal Sales Agency towards the meeting of its targets. [15810]
Mr. Freeman: The Disposal Sales Agency is progressing well in meeting its targets. The agency's achievements will be published in its 1994 95 annual report, a copy of which will be placed in the Library of the House in due course.
Mr. Fatchett: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the publications produced by his Department or the Disposal Sales Agency to assist in the sale of surplus equipment; and if he will place a copy of these in the Library. [15785]
Mr. Freeman: Brochures for specific items, usually describing a particular ship, produced by the Disposal Sales Agency are classified and cannot, therefore, be placed in the Library. General brochures, which publicise the availability of various commodities coming up for sale in the near future, are unclassified; I will be arranging for copies of these to be placed in the Library.
Mr. Fatchett: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will give the number and location of staff serving the Disposal Sales Agency; if he will give the staff budget for the current financial year; and if he will express the staff costs as a percentage of the operating costs. [15807]
Mr. Freeman: At the end of financial year 1994 95, the number of staff serving in the Disposal Sales Agency will be 65 in the UK and 30 in Germany. The sales function in Germany has recently been contractorised, and staff numbers will reduce to 12 by 30 September 1995.
The staff budget for the current financial year is £2.94 million; staff costs amount to 50 per cent. of the operating costs.
Mr. Fatchett: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what were (a) the costs expended and (b) the receipts accrued by the Disposal Sales Agency from the start of the 1994 financial year to the last month for which figures are available. [15783]
Costs expended 1 April 1994 to 28 March 1995: £3.3 million Receipts accrued 1 April 1998 to 28 February 1995: £63.5 million
Surplus Equipment Sales
Mr. Fatchett: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will outline the procedures for the sale of surplus Ministry of Defence equipment through auctioneers, term contractors and joint venture partners; and if he will give a statement. [15809]
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Mr. Freeman: I refer the hon. Member to the report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, report 557--"Disposal by Sale of Defence Surplus Equipment and Stores", and to the minutes of evidence taken before the Committee of Public Accounts on 26 January 1994.
Mr. Fatchett: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will list, by volume and type, the surplus (a) furniture or household items, (b) clothing, (c) plant, machinery or tools, (d) electrical goods, (e) electronic goods, (f) computer equipment, (g) ships, (h) aircraft, (i) tanks and (j) vehicles sold to preservation groups in the last year for which information is available; if he will identify the groups involved; and if he will give the total receipts for each category of item; [15805]
(2) if he will list, by volume and type, the surplus (a) furniture or household items, (b) clothing, (c) plant, machinery or tools, (d) electrical goods, (e) electronic goods, (f) computer equipment, (g) ships, (h) aircraft, (i) tanks, (j) vehicles and (k) other items sold to commercial companies in the last year for which information is available; if he will identify the companies involved; and if he will give the total receipts for each category of item; [15804]
(3) if he will list, by volume and type, the surplus (a) furniture or household items, (b) clothing, (c) plant, machinery or tools, (d) electrical goods, (e) electronic goods, (f) computer equipment, (g) ships, (h) aircraft, (i) tanks, (j) vehicles and (k) other items sold to private individuals in the last year for which information is available; if he will identify the companies involved; and if he will give the total receipts for each category of item. [15806]
Mr. Freeman: The Disposal Sales Agency currently has around 4,000 interested parties on its trades lists, covering 51 main commodity ranges further segmented into commodity types. In addition, several thousand customers attend auction sales throughout the country where approximately 40,000 lots are sold annually.
To break this information down by volume and type, to identify the purchasers and to give total receipts for each category of item would incur disproportionate cost.
Mr. Fatchett: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the auctioneers, term contractors and joint venture partners currently involved in the sale of surplus Ministry of Defence equipment. [15808]
Mr. Freeman: The list is as follows:
Miscellaneous Auctioneers
Midland Marts
Harrison and Hetherington Ltd.
Russell Baldwin and Bright
Fuller Peiser Ltd. (from 1 April 1995)
Edward Symonds and Partners (from 1 April 1995)
John Law
Phillips
Sothebys
Savills Walker Walton Hanson (from 1 April 1995)
Vehicle Auctioneers
ADT Ltd.
Central Motor Auctions
Hartfield Auctions
Term Contractors
William Tracey
M. Hanratty
J. Graham
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Birds Commercial MetalJ. Wells and Son
Wisbech Metal
Stone Bros.
N. Spurr
Bridge Supply
J. Hurst and Sons
J. W. Ransome
A. V. Smith
Southern Industrial
Thomas Muir
Mountelm
Fordpad
G and P Batteries
Reliance Scrap
James Rollason
M. R. J. Phillips
Hanningfield Metals
Barnstable Metals
Kirton Motor Spares
G and I Dargie
F. Watson and Sons
Skipbridge Processors
S. Calvert and Sons
Robert Gibbs
Pounds Marine
Geo Johnson
Henderson Kerr
Clonteen Ltd.
L. C. Hughes
Sheppard Group
J. K. Miller
James W. Cory
Silver Lining Industries Ltd.
Silvo Chem Ltd.
D. Charlett
Tenrich Tyres
Mr. Cook
Woods Tyres
Tyre Depot (Sandy)
D. McFarlane and Sons
Dundee Tyres
Western Tyres
Creigiau Tyres
Associated Fuels Ltd.
Hunting Secon Ltd.
Waste Oil Ltd.
Ailsa Industrial Svcs Ltd.
Norver Paints Ltd.
Boots (Northern Ireland)
Avesta Sheffield
Joint Venture Partners
Leafield Logistics and Technical Services
Military Aircraft Spares
Royal Ordnance plc
Hall and Watts
MSI Defence Systems Ltd.
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