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Foot and Mouth: Slaughter Appeals
The Countess of Mar asked Her Majesty's Government:
- On how many occasions during the recent outbreak of foot and mouth disease appeals against decisions of Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food or Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs officials to slaughter animals were upheld by the courts; how many cases were withdrawn by the animal owners prior to court hearings; and in how many cases were the officials decisions upheld.[HL1576]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Whitty): Defra officials sought High Court injunctions to slaughter animals on four occasions. In two of these cases the injunction was denied. In the other two cases the department was granted an injunction. There have been 31 cases in which animal owners withdrew their challenge to slaughter prior to court hearings. In addition, one claim for judicial review was withdrawn by the animal owners, one judicial review was won by the department and a further judicial review is ongoing.
The Countess of Mar asked Her Majesty's Government:
- In cases where appeals to the courts against decisions of Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food or Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs officials to slaughter animals were withdrawn or refused, how many animals were slaughtered; and how many of those animals showed signs of foot and mouth disease.[HL1578]
Lord Whitty: Defra headquarters is aware of 14,379 animals that were slaughtered after appeals had been refused or withdrawn from the courts. It is not possible to say how many of these animals showed signs of foot and mouth disease. However, seven of the 34 premises where owners of animals appealed against slaughter subsequently tested positive for the foot and mouth disease virus and were classified as infected premises. Information is currently being sought from regional offices on cases that were dealt with locally so that a full picture can be established.
Defra: Exeter Office
Baroness Byford asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether the "missing equipment" from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural
- Affairs Exeter Office was computer equipment, and, if so, whether it has been recovered.[HL1588]
Lord Whitty: I refer the noble Baroness to the reply I gave her on 12 November (Official Report, cols. WA 58–59).
MMR Vaccine
Lord Clement-Jones asked Her Majesty's Government:
- In the light of the findings of the paper by Spitzer, Aitken et al in the Journal of Adverse Drug Reaction and Toxicology, 2001, 20(3), which found that there is a median delay between immunisation with measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) and diagnosis of autism of 2.5 years, whether:
(a) the trial of 200 children in Sheffield with a quadruple vaccine of MMR/chickenpox will include a follow-up for all 200 children for a minimum of three years each, as recommended by Spitzer, Aitken et al, rather than an extended follow-up of only acute immediate reactions;
(b) any gradual degeneratiuon into autism, autistic spectrum disorder, or Aspergers Syndrome among the 200 children in this safety trial will be fully investigated before any wider safety trial in the United Kingdom is sanctioned; and
(c) a similar safety trial will in any event be repeated with a much larger sample, again with a three-year follow-up of every single child, before there is any general introduction of a quadruple vaccine.[HL1616]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath): No trials of MMR vaccine combined with chicken pox (varicella) vaccine are being conducted in Sheffield.
Although the paper by Spitzer, Aitken et al in the Journal of Adverse Drug Reactions and Toxicology reviews the cases of children whose parents are taking forward legal action against MMR manufacturers, it provides no scientific evidence to link MMR vaccine with autism. The paper reports the first symptoms of autism appeared on average over a year after the children had had MMR vaccine, strongly suggestive that MMR played no role. Spitzer, Aitken et al's findings are also counter to the paper by Dr Andrew Wakefield and colleagues published in the Lancet in 1998 which reported rapid onset of behaviourial symptoms, median 6.3 days, after MMR.
Other, more thorough, scientific studies which have looked at the link between MMR and autism have repeatedly found no link. A paper by Farrington et al published in Vaccine earlier this year examined whether autism might be a risk after MMR—as an acute event, or as a long-term delayed reaction. The authors concluded, "our results do not support the hypothesis that MMR or measles containing vaccines cause autism at any time after vaccination".
Lord Campbell of Croy asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: We have increased health authority allocations by £4 million over the next three years to provide silicone cosmesis for prosthetic limb users. This funding started in April this year with £0.5 million for 2001–02, £1.5 million for 2002–03 and a further £2 million for 2003–04.
The funding was included in health authorities' allocations, along with funding for community services equipment. In order to ensure that patients do receive this funding we have written to chief executives and finance directors of health authorities that commission prosthetic services to highlight the silicone cosmesis allocation.
Lord Acton asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: We have announced that, following 22 simultaneous consultation exercises across the whole of England, we are proposing to establish 28 new health authorities from 1 April 2002, when the existing health authorities will be disestablished. Subject to progress with the NHS Reform and Health Care Professions Bill, these new health authorities are expected to become strategic health authorities by next October. The table indicates the new health authorities and their constituent existing health authorities.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns asked Her Majesty's Government:
The Minister of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Baroness Blackstone): The Arts Council of England last year published a Handbook of Good Practice: Employing Disabled People based on its apprenticeship scheme which provides support for host organisations and apprentices in a wide range of roles—administrative, technical, managerial, creative and educational. The regional arts boards are also engaged in this area: London Arts commissioned an extensive research and consultation exercise to inform its recently published Disability Action Plan.
Why government expenditure of £500,000, announced in October 2000 as intended for silicone cosmesis for artificial limbs, was in the event spent on other parts of the National Health Service.[HL1899]
When they expect to be in a position to announce the outcome of the recent consultation on proposed boundaries for new health authorities across England.[HL2101]
New Health Authority HAs involved
Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Cambridge Norfolk Suffolk
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Bedfordshire Hertfordshire
Essex North Essex South Essex
North West London Brent and Harrow Ealing, Hammersmith & Hounslow Hillingdon Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster
North Central London Barnet, Enfield & Haringey Camden and Islington
North East London Barking and Havering East London and the City Redbridge and Waltham Forest
South East London Bexley, Bromley and Greenwich Lambeth, Southwark & Lewisham
South West London Croydon Kingston and Richmond Merton, Sutton & Wandsworth
Northumberland, Tyne and Wear Gateshead and South Tyneside Newcastle and North Tyneside Northumberland Sunderland
County Durham & Tees Valley County Durham & Darlington Tees
North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire East Riding & Hull North Yorkshire South Humber
West Yorkshire Bradford Calderdale and Kirklees Leeds Wakefield
Cumbria & Lancashire North Cumbria East Lancashire Morecambe Bay North West Lancashire South Lancashire
Greater Manchester Bury and Rochdale Manchester Salford and Trafford Stockport West Pennine Wigan and Bolton
Cheshire & Merseyside Liverpool North Cheshire Sefton South Cheshire St Helens and Knowsley Wirral
Thames Valley Berkshire Buckinghamshire Oxfordshire
Hampshire and Isle of Wight North and Mid Hampshire Isle of Wight & Portsmouth and South East Hampshire Southampton and South West Hampshire
Kent and Medway East Kent West Kent
Surrey and Sussex East Surrey East Sussex, Brighton and Hove West Surrey West Sussex
Avon, Gloucestershire & Wiltshire Avon Gloucestershire Wiltshire
South West Peninsula Cornwall and Isles of Scilly North and East Devon South and West Devon
Somerset & Dorset Dorset Somerset
South Yorkshire Barnsley Doncaster Rotherham Sheffield
Trent Lincolnshire North Derbyshire North Nottinghamshire Nottingham South Derbyshire
Leicestershire, Northamptonshire & Rutland Leicestershire Northamptonshire
Shropshire and Staffordshire North Staffordshire Shropshire South Staffordshire
Birmingham and the Black Country Birmingham Dudley Sandwell Solihull Walsall Wolverhampton
Coventry, Warwickshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire Coventry Herefordshire Warwickshire Worcestershire
What research they have carried out into the disadvantages facing disabled people who seek work in the performing arts; and what measures they are taking to enable people who have a disability to overcome such disadvantages.[HL1968]
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