Written question asked by Andrew George (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 22 February 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 3 March 2005. It was answered by Alun Michael (Labour) on Thursday, 3 March 2005 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Dept for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her latest estimate is of the number of live cattle kept in the UK which were born (a) before and (b) after August 1996 which would be eligible for compensation payments under the over 30 months scheme; and what records her Department has maintained of these cattle. - Inc figures.

Answer: Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her latest estimate is of the number of live cattle kept in the UK which were born (a) before and (b) after August 1996 which would be eligible for compensation payments under the over-30-month-scheme; and what records her Department has maintained of these cattle. [218366] Alun Michael: At 24 February 2005 the Cattle Tracing System (CIS) database shows there to be 846,530 cattle alive that were born before 1 August 1996 and 3,166,935 cattle born after this date, all of which are potentially eligible for compensation under the over-30-month- scheme if they meet the scheme requirements. The CTS is a computer based system to register cattle in Great Britain. CTS records the: identification and death of cattle, movements from birth to death of cattle issued with passports from 28 September 1998, and movements of older cattle since 29 January 2001.

Secondary information