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Dept for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

Answer

Mrs. Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she has taken to speed up the bovine tuberculosis testing programme since the lifting of foot and mouth disease control restrictions; and if she will calculate the number of personnel employed by her Department in executing the bovine TB testing programme. [35535] Mr. Morley: Following the foot and mouth emergency we are re-directing resources to the research and control strategy to tackle TB in cattle including the testing programme. To date over 5,800 working hours have been recorded on the testing programme in December 2001. Some 90 per cent. of this comprised work by administrative staff and the remainder by veterinary professionals. As at 1 January 2002 the complement of permanent veterinary staff of the State Veterinary Service tasked with undertaking, among other matters, the bovine TB testing programme was 218 veterinary officers and 24 divisional veterinary managers. In addition to permanent veterinary staff we are also employing temporary veterinary inspectors. Currently there are 340 in post carrying out similar functions to veterinary officers including work on testing as part of the TB control strategy. Primarily local veterinary inspectors from private practice undertake the actual testing on farms. There are nearly 4,000 approved who will spend a varying proportion of their time carrying out testing on our behalf.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

35535; 380 c651W;380 c654W

Session

2001-02

Subjects

Disease control Foot and mouth disease Livestock Testing Bovine tuberculosis

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk