NEWS RELEASE
Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, London, SW1P 3JR
Tel: 020 7238 5609 Out of hours: 020 7270 8960 
Fax: 020 7238 5529
15/01 	21 June 2001	
STATEMENT TO THE HOUSE	

Secretary of State at the new Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Margaret Beckett today emphasised the vital importance of maintaining high standards of biosecurity on and around farms. 

Setting out the Government's continuing response to the Foot and Mouth outbreak to the new House of Commons, she advised that epidemiological evidence suggests cases will continue to occur for some time yet. To bring the disease to an end as quickly as possible, it remains hugely important that no one relaxes their guard. 

Tackling the impact of Foot and Mouth on rural communities, businesses and services is a key objective of the new Department, which brings together for the first time policies in relation to food, farming and the rural economy. 

STATEMENT 

1. Mr Speaker, with permission, I would like to make a statement on the foot and mouth outbreak. 

2. I want to take this, the earliest possible opportunity, to update the House on developments since my Rt Hon Friend, the then Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, made his statement on Thursday 3 May and to set out the measures the Government continues to take. 

3. As of mid-day today there had been in total 1771 confirmed cases of foot and mouth disease in the United Kingdom, including 4 in Northern Ireland. Yesterday there was only one case. Since my Rt Hon Friend addressed the House some seven weeks ago, there has been an average of between 4 and 5 cases per day. That of course compares, as the House will recall, with the highest point of over 40 cases per day at the end of March. 

4. The number of animals slaughtered for disease control purposes has now reached nearly 3.4 million - an increase of 1 million since 3 May. But the percentages of each species remain roughly the same - around 80% are sheep, 16% are cattle and 4% are pigs. 

5. A further 1.1 million animals have been slaughtered under the Livestock Welfare Disposal Scheme. The total number of animals slaughtered under both headings is about 4.5 million so far - out of a total UK livestock population of around 55 million. And to put that figure in context, although by anyone's standards a massive number of animals have had to be slaughtered, it is of course substantially a smaller number than we slaughter for consumption in an average week (some half a million cattle, sheep and pigs, a week). 

6. My Rt Hon Friend warned the House on 3 May that the epidemiological advice was that cases would continue to occur for some time yet. Sadly that remains the case. He also warned that we expected that the outbreak would have a long tail, that there would be further outbreaks in some parts of the country and that the number of cases per day would fluctuate. That remains the position today. 

7. The objective also remains to eradicate the disease as quickly as we can. And let me make it perfectly clear that although we cannot put a definitive timescale on the achievement of that goal, no-one is suggesting that it will be in the next few days or weeks. So it is hugely important that no one relaxes their guard. Certainly for us as Government, all the resources we need to bear down on the disease - civil and military - will be deployed where they are needed for as long as they are needed. 

8. Over 900 vets are still actively working on the outbreak, including around 80 from abroad. As the number of daily cases declined, it has been possible to reduce the number of military personnel now working on the ground to around 250, mainly in the North of England. That reduction can of course speedily be reversed if the need should arise. Indeed, our immediate response to the outbreak in the Settle area of North Yorkshire showed that we are able to react rapidly when the situation requires it. And of course hundreds of administrative staff remain in place in control centres around the country. 

9. My Rt Hon Friend was able to say on 3 May that there were no backlogs of animals awaiting disposal, anywhere in Great Britain. I am pleased to say that we have maintained this position ever since and it remains the case today. A new system, co-ordinated in the Page Street, London, HQ ensures that carcasses are picked up from farms promptly after slaughter and transported to their final destination without further delay. 

10. Of course, it is much easier to achieve rapid turn-around when there are just 4 or 5 cases per day than when there are 30 or 40. But nevertheless the task of ensuring that many thousands of carcasses are collected and disposed of each day is itself a major logistical exercise. 7 or 8 cases can involve up to 30 or 40 farms including the contiguous premises, and therefore up to 20,000 carcasses. 

11. Protection of the environment and human health is our priority for all disposal options. Rendering is the best way of disposing of carcasses and will always be our first choice. But rendering capacity is finite and can quickly become overstretched, at least in the short term, if on any given day the number of cases rises. The Department of Health has advised that the greatest public health hazard would be to leave carcasses out in the open, especially in warm weather, so other means of disposal may still need to be called upon from time to time. 

12. And if other options are exhausted, we shall on occasion still have to turn to licensed landfills and mass burial sites. I understand the strength of local feelings about burial sites and I can assure the House that a decision to use such a site, even just for one day or for a few lorryloads, is not taken lightly. But as has been said many times, there are no easy options for disposal and if the circumstances arise, we must be prepared to utilise all the national assets we have, including burial sites. 

13. However these are the steps taken to deal effectively with the outbreak of the disease. Even more important is to prevent further spread of the disease. I cannot emphasise too highly the continuing importance of high standards of biosecurity on and around farms - that is, practical precautionary measures to prevent further spread of the disease. We are taking every opportunity to drive home this message, using interviews in the national and local media and advertisements in the local and the farming press. We have also produced a video demonstrating a practical approach to biosecurity and that will shortly be made available to all livestock farmers, and others in the industry, accompanied by a leaflet and letter from Jim Scudamore, the Chief Veterinary Officer. It really is essential to drive this message home, and I appeal to honourable and right honourable Members in all parts of the House who have, I know, expressed continued concern and interest in the concerns of their constituents about this issue, to play their part in conveying this message to constituents. . 

14. As the House is aware, Mr Speaker, the outbreak continues in a number of areas of the country. But fortunately it is also the case that other regions have had no cases at all or have had no further cases for a long time and are looking forward to a return to normality. We are doing everything we can to facilitate that, subject naturally to the overriding priority not to put at risk the eradication of the disease. 

15. 37 Infected Areas have now been lifted. There are areas where not only have there been no new cases for over 30 days but also thorough veterinary and serological testing has taken place. Some 43,000 farms have now benefited from the lifting of restrictions, that is around one third of the number of farms which have ever been restricted. 

16. As I have said, wherever in the country there is a remaining disease problem, we will put all our efforts into eradicating it. At the same time I am also very conscious of the call from the farming industry and the wider rural community for some of the tighter movement restrictions to be relaxed. And as ever, there is a balance to be achieved between continuing to bear down on the disease - movement restrictions are an essential part of our armoury for control - and allowing reasonably normal business to take place where the risk of spreading the disease is very low. But the restrictions applied must be kept proportionate to that risk. 

17. I can announce today two significant changes to the rules on the movement of livestock. The industry has been pressing for some time for a relaxation of the licence restrictions, to enable more normal trade to take place. Clearly our first priority is to ensure that nothing is done which puts at risk the eradication of the disease. The veterinary advice is that certain changes can be made, provided that strict criteria are applied and the animals are otherwise eligible to be moved under the existing FMD rules. 

18. First, as from tomorrow Friday 22 June, livestock (cattle, sheep and pigs) from within Infected Areas will be permitted to move, under licence, for slaughter in abattoirs outside the Infected Area, both for human consumption and under the Livestock Welfare Disposal Scheme. And second, also from tomorrow, cattle and pigs from outside Infected Areas will be permitted to move, under licence, into Provisionally Free Areas, on welfare grounds. At the same time welfare movements of cattle and pigs from one Provisionally Free Area to another will also be permitted. The veterinary advice is that a similar easing of welfare movements for sheep would present too high a risk in the current situation. 

19. Relaxation of movement restrictions (where it is reasonable to do so) is important for our farming industry, but foot and mouth disease has also had a devastating impact on the wider rural economy. As part of our strategy for wider rural recovery we want to see footpaths and other rights of way re-opened wherever it is safe to do so. Considerable progress has been made in recent weeks with over half of all paths now open. This reflects real effort and goodwill on the part of many local authorities, farmers and walkers. However some local authorities have kept paths shut when it is really quite difficult to see that it is justified in the face of what are assessed as very slight risks. And what is also unhelpful is that even where most paths are open, people are often still confused about which paths are open and which shut. 

20. I have asked my RHF (the Minister for Rural Affairs) to examine as a matter of urgency whether we can revoke the remaining blanket closures of paths in the near future. We would keep in place local authority powers to close paths selectively where necessary - mainly of course within 3 km of infected premises - and we will listen to representations from local authorities and others who may wish to retain blanket closures in particular areas affected by disease. We fully recognise that this may be the right response in areas where there is or has been a high concentration of disease, such that implementing path-by-path closures would be difficult. 

21. Revoking remaining blanket closures will both increase the number of paths open and, equally important, make much clearer which paths are open and which are closed. It will mean that by the summer holidays the vast majority of the countryside will be well and truly open and seen to be open for visitors and for business. 

22. We are also continuing, Mr Speaker, to take action to help rural businesses, particularly in the worst affected areas, cope with the impact of foot and mouth. Over the last 3 months the Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise have deferred some £71m of tax without interest charge for severely affected businesses. Local authorities have granted or are considering some 3,500 applications for hardship rate relief in addition to deferment of rates bills and applications for revaluation related to foot and mouth impacts. 

23. In addition we have provided additional funding of £39m for the Business Recovery Fund run by Regional Development Agencies to add to the resources they had already been allocated and have themselves re-prioritised for such use. In addition to business support, and funding for local and regional promotion over 200 businesses have now had offers of grant from this Fund and we expect all RDAs to have the fund fully operational with their Business Link partners by the end of this month. 

24. Mr Speaker, this disease has been a terrible blow to farmers and the wider rural community. For some, recovery will still seem a distant dream. Nevertheless work to help farmers emerge from the crisis has begun and is of course linked to the Government's aims to create sustainable and diverse farming and food industries, and to promote thriving rural economies and communities. 

25. In the short term we have already paid out around £790 million in compensation for slaughtered animals, in addition to the £156 announced for agrimonetary compensation and an estimated total of some £230 million under the Livestock Welfare Disposal Scheme. Looking to the longer-term, members of the Rural Task Force and other stakeholders are already engaged in discussions with my Department and my Ministerial colleagues on how best to deliver a sustainable and thriving countryside. 

26. It is clear that we must learn the lessons from this outbreak. Although everyone was trying to do their best, it is in the nature of things that some errors are likely to have been made. What is important is not just to identify what we could and should do better next time, but also to highlight the many things which went well and which we should do again if the same or a similar situation should arise. 

27. We also need to look at issues such as the possible future shape of the disease control regime and what changes which might be necessary at EU as well as at national level. Again, a review is planned for the autumn and we are keen to play an active part in this. I discussed all these points with EU colleagues at the Agriculture Council this week and other Member States continue to be appreciative of our efforts. 

28. Mr Speaker, my Department and I are determined to bring this outbreak to an end. I have been tremendously impressed by the commitment of all those working on foot and mouth I have met in my short time in office: vets, soldiers, administrative and technical staff, who are still in many areas of the country working long hours, seven days a week. I am most grateful to those who have contributed to the team effort, not least to our former ministerial team, and pay tribute to them all. I myself will be visiting one of the worst affected areas in the North of England soon. 

29. Let us too, on all sides of the House, continue to work together as we move nearer to our ultimate goal of the complete eradication of the disease from the United Kingdom and a return to normality in farming and rural communities. 	

There is NO CopyRight on this document, which is one of many 1,000s of items freely available on http://www.SilentMajority.co.UK [some 18Mbs.] & 10s of 1,000s of items on The SilentMajority CD [with over 50Mbs.] which contains the entire web site & hosts other web sites also, 1,000s of apposite quotations, Articles, Speeches, Commentaries, ArtWork, & The FULL text of The EU Treaties, Several Related Books, The British Constitution, The American Constitution & Numerous related Items.
SilentMajority nor any associate thereof does NOT vouch for the veracity of the documents hosted on its site or CD nor any foreign language documents thereon & advises you consult your own solicitor on legal details as we do not accept liability for, nor presume to give legal advice ourselves.
For a copy of the CD please mail payment of £20.00 for UK deliver or £25.00 for ALL other Countries payable to:
Greg Lance – Watkins,
Glance Back Books,
17 Upper Church Street,
CHEPSTOW,
NP16 5EX
Monmouthshire,
GREAT BRITAIN
For delivery of 2 x CDs
one for your own use
+ one for on selling or donation to an individual of influence (media, politician, activist etc.)

IF YOU wish to use the Material Above, which is freely provided
Please have the Courtesy to Print It out in its entirety from start to finish with NO alterations, as displayed.
To This Point
.