Written question asked by Ann Winterton (Conservative) on Thursday, 21 March 2002, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 10 April 2002. It was answered by Elliot Morley (Labour) on Wednesday, 10 April 2002 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, if she will make a statement on progress in her Department's bovine TB cattle testing programme; when she expects the TB testing programme to be brought up to date; and how many of (a) her Department's staff and (b) the State Veterinary Service are employed directly in the testing programme. - Includes figures.

Answer: Mrs. Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on progress in her Department's bovine TB cattle testing programme; when she expects the TB testing programme to be brought up to date; and how many of (a) her Department's staff and (b) the State Veterinary Service are employed directly in the testing programme. [46390] Mr. Morley: The vast majority of TB testing is carried out on behalf of the State Veterinary Service (SVS) by private vets from local large animal practices, who work for the SVS as local veterinary inspectors (LVIs). Nearly 4,000 are approved to carry out this testing. For February 2002 nearly 3,000 hours of veterinary and technical time was spent on TB testing within the SVS and just over 11,500 hours of administrative time. We cannot yet say when the backlog of overdue TB tests will be cleared.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 46390; 383 c278W
Session: 2001-02
Subjects: Disease control Staff Testing Veterinary services Bovine tuberculosis State Veterinary Service
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk