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BSE Compensation Payments
Lord Carter asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What was the saving to public funds incurred by paying 50 per cent. compensation on BSE-infected cattle before 1990; and what has been the further saving incurred since the reduction of compensation in 1994.
Lord Lucas: If compensation had been paid at 100 per cent. prior to February 1990 it is estimated that the Government would have incurred an increase in compensation payments of somewhere in the order of £3.5 million.
Farmers receive the market value of their animals slaughtered as BSE suspects, up to a ceiling. The calculation of the maximum compensation rate for BSE suspect animals was changed with effect from 1st April 1994 to better reflect the age structure of the cattle population succumbing to the disease and so match market values more accurately. Had the previous method of calculation been used in the period 1st April 1994 to 31st March 1996 then expenditure on BSE compensation could have been up to £4.25 million higher, depending on the market value of the animals
killed. There is no evidence that either of these changes has resulted in any under-reporting of BSE suspects.BSE: Dr. Narang's Test
Baroness Jeger asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they will consider using the Narang Test, reported in The Times on 29th March, on all British cows to identify cows infected by bovine spongiform encephalopathy so that only those would need to be destroyed.
Lord Lucas: We have asked Dr. Narang for details of the urine test he claims to have developed to diagnose BSE in cattle in the field. So far he has failed to provide us with any details of his test for assessment; nor has he published details of it in an independent, peer-reviewed journal, the usual way to verify such tests.
BSE Cases in the European Union
The Earl of Bradford asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether there have been any outbreaks of BSE in the European Community apart from the recent case in France.
Lord Lucas: The following number of BSE cases have been notified in the following countries up to 18th April 1996:
- Republic of Ireland 124
- France 17
- Portugal 34 (of which 3 are cases imported from UK)
- Germany 4 (all cases are imported from UK)
- Denmark 1 (case imported from UK)
- Italy 2 (both cases imported from UK)
BSE Cases by Herd Type
The Earl of Bradford asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they will provide quarterly figures for the percentage of outbreaks of BSE in the United Kingdom split between pure beef, mixed and pure milk herds for the last two years.
Lord Lucas: The following table shows the quarterly figures of BSE cases, by date of confirmation, by production type:
| 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | ||||||
| Production type | 2nd quarter percentage | 3rd quarter percentage | 4th quarter percentage | 1st quarter percentage | 2nd quarter percentage | 3rd quarter percentage | 4th quarter percentage | 1st quarter percentage |
| Unknown | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Dairy | 79 | 81 | 79 | 78 | 79 | 81 | 77 | 78 |
| Mixed | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
| Beef | 14 | 12 | 14 | 15 | 14 | 12 | 15 | 14 |
The Earl of Bradford asked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they can provide the most recent quarterly figures for the incidence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in the United Kingdom and whether the number of cases has declined in the last two years; and
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Whether they can provide quarterly figures broken down on a regional and United Kingdom basis for the number of recorded cases of BSE for the last two years.
Lord Lucas: The following table shows the number of BSE cases confirmed by region, by date of confirmation for the last two years (April 1994 to March 1996):
| 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | ||||||
| Region | 2nd QTR | 3rd QTR | 4th QTR | 1st QTR | 2nd QTR | 3rd QTR | 4th QTR | 1st QTR |
| Eastern | 572 | 440 | 440 | 432 | 349 | 259 | 304 | 283 |
| Mid and West | 1,540 | 1,111 | 1,098 | 1,247 | 821 | 767 | 642 | 624 |
| Northern | 782 | 568 | 703 | 732 | 459 | 400 | 397 | 387 |
| Scotland | 409 | 237 | 260 | 250 | 181 | 176 | 143 | 153 |
| South East | 823 | 510 | 551 | 602 | 412 | 327 | 327 | 376 |
| South West | 2,198 | 1,544 | 1,611 | 1,608 | 1,244 | 1,048 | 850 | 852 |
| Wales | 740 | 456 | 417 | 511 | 342 | 339 | 282 | 285 |
| Northern Ireland | 70 | 76 | 73 | 57 | 36 | 34 | 43 | 38 |
| Total | 7,134 | 4,942 | 5,153 | 5,439 | 3,844 | 3,350 | 2,988 | 2,998 |
The incidence of BSE continues to decline. The number of suspect cases is now at the lowest level for
five years. The total number of cases in 1995 was 40.8 per cent. lower compared with 1994.
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