Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Tomlinson (Labour). It was answered on Monday, 30 October 2006.

Defra: Budget

Question: My Lords, is my noble friend in a position to assure the House that there is no truth in the rumour of a £3 million cut in the veterinary service? Does he agree that there would be deep concern were such a cut to be put into effect, as it would cause many people to doubt the capacity of the veterinary service to deal with future outbreaks of diseases such as foot and mouth disease?

Answer: My Lords, I am grateful for mynoble friend’s question on the ground that there have been some myths abroad about the so-called cut of£3 million to the State Veterinary Service. There has been no £3 million cut to the State Veterinary Service this year. In fact, there has been no cut to the State Veterinary Service this year. The overall budget for the SVS remains the same after a switch of funding where money was switched around from the capital budget, which was increased by £3 million to replace resource money. The budget for the State Veterinary Service has been increased this year by £16 million, and another £3 million will be made available for avian influenza preparedness, giving a net increase of £19 million for 2006-07, the year we are in at the moment. There has been no £3 million cut. It is true that there was a cut in the resource area, but that was money swapped from capital. It did not lose any money. The State Veterinary Service got the same amount of money as was in the original budget, so talk about a £3 million cut is not correct.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: 686 c9
Session: 2005-06
Oral question type: Supplementary
Chamber / Committee: House of Lords chamber
Related items: Defra: Budget
Wednesday, 8 November 2006
Written questions
House of Lords; Defra: Budget
Tuesday, 7 November 2006
Written questions
House of Lords
Subjects: Agriculture Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Finance ICT Subsidies Rural Payments Agency
Link: View this Oral question on www.publications.parliament.uk