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asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answer by Lord Rooker on 23 June (WA 202), whether the continuance of the bovine spongiform encephalopathy testing programme to identify 40 cases at a cost of £60 million is necessary to prevent recurrence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

Asked by

Lord Taylor of Holbeach (Conservative)

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

7 July 2008

Reference

4610; 703 c59-60WA

House

House of Lords

Agriculture: BSE

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Summary: Intervention and Options document of the impact assessment of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy responsibility and cost-sharing proposals, published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 11 December 2007, when the proportion of United Kingdom cattle subject to testing for bovine spongiform...

Asked by

Lord Taylor of Holbeach (Conservative)

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

23 June 2008

Reference

4252; 702 c202WA

House

House of Lords

Health: MRSA

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will test imported pig and poultry meat for methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus in view of the infection in four European Union countries; and whether they will begin taking sample tests of live pigs and poultry in Britain, together with meat for retail sale.

Asked by

Lord Hylton (Crossbench)

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

16 June 2008

Reference

4035; 702 c131-2WA

House

House of Lords

Animal Welfare: Wild Birds

asked Her Majesty's Government:What were the conservation reasons which led to the choice of peregrine, merlin, saker falcon, gyr falcon, goshawk and golden eagle as the study species for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs research project on DNA sampling using fluorescent multiplexing, completed in 2006.

Asked by

Lord Moran (Crossbench)

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

5 June 2008

Reference

3767; 702 c69WA

House

House of Lords

Animal Welfare: Wild Birds

asked Her Majesty's Government:What steps they have taken to ensure that captive populations of species that they intend to remove from Schedule 4 to the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 are DNA-tested to check that they are of legitimate stock and to provide baseline data on any future parenting claims...

Asked by

Lord Moran (Crossbench)

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

4 June 2008

Reference

3764; 702 c53WA

House

House of Lords

Bovine Tuberculosis

asked Her Majesty's Government:What peer-reviewed scientific advice they have received in recent years about the accuracy and reliability of tests for bovine tuberculosis.

Asked by

Lord Hylton (Crossbench)

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

2 June 2008

Reference

3795; 702 c3-4WA

House

House of Lords

Agriculture: Disease Testing

asked Her Majesty's Government:Why the Diseases of Animals (Approved Disinfectants) (Fees) Order 2008 (SI 2008/652) increased the fees for testing for use with foot and mouth disease and swine vesicular disease by 98.7 per cent, but by less than 3 per cent for use with all other types of disease.

Asked by

Lord Taylor of Holbeach (Conservative)

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

3 April 2008

Reference

2876; 700 c189WA

House

House of Lords

Agriculture: Disease Testing

asked Her Majesty's Government:Why the Diseases of Animals (Approved Disinfectants) (Fees) Order 2008 (SI 2008/652) increased the fee for administrative services in connection with testing from £134 to £1,650.

Asked by

Lord Taylor of Holbeach (Conservative)

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

3 April 2008

Reference

2877; 700 c189-90WA

House

House of Lords

Animal Welfare: Infectious Diseases

Lords question for short debate on what improvements have been made in the management of infectious animal diseases.

Lead member

Baroness Byford

Answering member

Lord Rooker

Department

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Type

Questions for short debate

Date

10 March 2008

Reference

699 c1370-90

House

House of Lords

Agriculture: Foot and Mouth Disease

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the pigswill feed identified at the start of the 2001 foot and mouth outbreak has been tested for that virus.

Asked by

Baroness Byford (Conservative)

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

10 March 2008

Reference

2195; 699 c193-4WA

House

House of Lords

Badgers

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether there has been a comparison made of blood from badgers in areas affected by bovine tuberculosis with blood from badgers unaffected by it.

Asked by

Baroness Byford (Conservative)

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

28 January 2008

Reference

1483; 698 c77WA

House

House of Lords

Water Supply: Pollution

asked Her Majesty's Government:With reference to the Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 2000 (Amendment) Regulations 2007 (SI 2007/2734), under what regulations and at what intervals water undertakers and licensed water suppliers test for the presence of substances harmful to health which may have been deliberately introduced into the water supply.

Asked by

Lord Taylor of Holbeach (Conservative)

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

7 January 2008

Reference

799; 697 c185-6WA

House

House of Lords

Research Facilities: Meriel Laboratory

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether adequate security is provided by the situation at the Merial animal health laboratory where there is only one valve that separates the live virus product line from the line providing an outlet from the steam cleaning process; and whether they will insist that water from this...

Asked by

Duke of Montrose (Conservative)

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

11 December 2007

Reference

457; 697 c43WA

House

House of Lords

Research Facilities: Merial Laboratory

asked Her Majesty's Government:What history there has been of shortfalls in the quantity of virus recorded each week at the Merial animal health laboratory.

Asked by

Duke of Montrose (Conservative)

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

10 December 2007

Reference

456; 697 c14-5WA

House

House of Lords

Health: MRSA

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many isolations of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus from England and Wales were analysed by the staphylococcus reference laboratory of the Health Protection Agency to identify their type in each of the past three years, and, of these, how many were tested using the method known as pulsed...

Asked by

Lord Hylton (Crossbench)

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Answered on

26 November 2007

Local authorities have statutory duties for local air quality management (LAQM) under the Environment Act 1995. Local authorities are required to carry out regular reviews and assessments of air quality in their areas against objectives in the national air quality strategy, which have been prescribed in regulations. Where it is found that these objectives are unlikely to be met, authorities must designate air quality management areas (AQMAs) and prepare and implement remedial action plans to tackle the problem. Defra requires local authorities that have AQMAs to produce an action plan between 12 and 18 months following designation of their AQMA, as set out in policy guidance LAQM.PG(03). Authorities have been required to take account of the guidance in carrying out their duties since February 2003. Defra also encourages authorities whose draft action plan primarily relates to local road transport to integrate them into their local transport plan (LTP). A number of local authorities have taken the opportunity to do so. Most local authorities have met the deadlines and have submitted their action plan to Defra. To date Defra has received 157 action plans from local authorities. However, 18 authorities have yet to produce an action plan. Where local authorities are late in providing plans, Defra officials seek explanations for the delay. My officials have maintained correspondence with the authorities and recently contacted the authorities to remind them about their overdue action plans requesting that they update Defra on progress. My department will continue to work to ensure that local authorities fulfil their responsibilities under the local air quality management process effectively and within the specified deadlines as far as possible. I have arranged for a table, detailing progress to date, to be placed in the House Library. In some cases, the department has agreed to extensions to the original deadlines.

Notes

Question printed with incorrect answer. Question reprinted with correct answer on 5 December 2007 at 696 c194WA.

Date

26 November 2007

Reference

207; 696 c101WA

House

House of Lords

Agriculture: Foot and Mouth Disease

asked Her Majesty's Government:What progress is being made on the development of an on-the-spot diagnostic test for foot-and-mouth disease.

Asked by

Lord Greaves (Liberal Democrat)

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

19 November 2007

Reference

5; 696 c40WA

House

House of Lords

Badgers and Bovine Tuberculosis

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether, in prioritising their wildlife health strategy, they will take note of the need for the development of a polymerase chain reaction test that can identify the presence of tuberculosis pathogens in badger setts.

Asked by

Duke of Montrose (Conservative)

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Notes

Answer received between Monday 13 August and Friday 17 August 2007.

Date

1 October 2007

Reference

5198; 694 c166-7WA

House

House of Lords

Agriculture: Pigs and Poultry

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will test imported live farm animals together with meat, in particular pig and poultry meat, for methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, in the light of the prevalence of this infection in animals and meat in the Netherlands and other European Union countries.

Asked by

Lord Hylton (Crossbench)

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Date

9 July 2007

Reference

4602; 693 c192WA

House

House of Lords

Bovine Tuberculosis

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they have received scientific advice or evidence about the accuracy of the traditional test for tuberculosis in cattle, or suggestions for an improved test; what are the annual costs, direct or indirect, of the existing test; and how much compensation has been paid in each of...

Asked by

Lord Hylton (Crossbench)

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Answered on

3 May 2007

The single intradermal comparative cervical tuberculin (SICCT) test, commonly known as the tuberculin ““skin test””, is the primary screening test for TB in cattle in Great Britain and other parts of the European Union (EU). The skin test, which is used throughout the world to screen cattle, other animals and people for TB, is the internationally accepted standard for surveillance for infection with mycobacterium bovis and is considered the best screening test currently available for detecting TB in live animals. No diagnostic test is 100 per cent accurate, but the current skin test is effective. Published research from studies around the world shows that skin testingwill detect approximately 80 per cent of all infected cattle (at standard interpretation). This is known as the test's sensitivity. Occasionally, reactions to the tuberculin test can be caused by exposure to other mycobacteria; when the skin test is applied to cattle without TB, there is a one in a 1,000 chance that a non-infected animal will be wrongly classified as a reactor. This is known as the test's false positive rate. An alternative way of defining this is to say that the skin test has a specificity¹ of 99.9 per cent. In October 2006, the Government extended the use of the gamma interferon blood test, alongside the skin test (as permitted by EU legislation), to improve the sensitivity of the testing regime for controlling disease in infected herds by identifying more infected animals more quickly. It is being applied mainly in herds disclosing TB infection in low risk areas to help ensure infection does not become established in cattle or wildlife. It will also continue to be available for use as a disease control tool in areas of higher incidence. In line with recommendations from the scientific community, Defra continues to fund further research into improved diagnostics for bovine TB. The cost to government of cattle testing in Great Britain for 2004-05 was £36:4 million and for 2005-06 it was £36.7 million. These costs include: tuberculin costs, arranging, assessing and monitoring tests, conducting investigations of incident herds and meeting the costs of private vets—local veterinary inspectors—who carry out most of the TB testing work. The cost to government of surveillance activity by the Veterinary Laboratories Agency, which includes tuberculin costs, was £4.9 million in 2004-05 and £7.5 million in 2005-06. We cannot provide an estimate of ““indirect costs””, which are difficult to define, although we certainly acknowledge that the farming industry also incurs costs to support the TB testing programme. Compensation paid for TB reactors and contact animals compulsorily slaughtered across Great Britain in the past four years is shown in the table below. Figures include salvage money received by the Government for those carcasses permitted to go into the food chain or eligible for the over 30-month scheme.

Year	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06
Compensation paid (£ million)	31.9	34.4	35.0	40.4
¹ Specificity is the ability of a test correctly to identify non-infected animals identified as negative (the higher the specificity the lower the probability of false positives). Sensitivity is the proportion of infected animals detected as positive (the higher the sensitivity the lower the probability of false negatives).
No diagnostic test, including the tuberculin test, is totally accurate, ie 100 per cent sensitive and 100 per cent specific, as there is a trade-off between these two properties.

Date

3 May 2007

Reference

3173; 691 c231-3WA

House

House of Lords

Agriculture: BSE

asked Her Majesty's Government:What has been the cost to date of testing cattle for bovine spongiform encephalopathy infection over each of the past 10 years; and whether the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is considering moving from the regular testing of cattle over 24 months to a random...

Asked by

Baroness Byford (Conservative)

Type

Written questions

Status

Answered

Answered on

16 April 2007

The cost of testing cattle for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in Britain under the EU active surveillance programme, which was introduced in 2001, is shown in the table below.

Year	Number tested*	Costs £ million **
2001	80,444	19
2002	333,073	31
2003	394,712	32
2004	515,507	31
2005	547,386	41
2006	598,755	***60
Total	2,469,877	214
* Numbers tested per calendar year
** Costs per financial year
*** Latest forecast

These figures include laboratory costs, the costs of Meat Hygiene Service controls in abattoirs and Rural Payments Agency expenditure on the collection, brainstem sampling and disposal of cattle that have died or been killed on farm or in transit (fallen cattle). The costs of testing cattle with clinical signs of BSE are excluded. The EU Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy (TSE) Regulation (999/2001) requires the UK to test all fallen cattle aged over 24 months. An amending regulation (1923/2006), which came into force on 19 January 2007, provides for the European Commission and member states to agree either to raise the age limit for testing fallen cattle throughout the EU, or to accept an individual member state’s application to implement an alternative surveillance programme. The latter is dependent on several factors, including the agreement of harmonised criteria against which a proposal from a member state would be assessed. Defra has asked the European Commission to raise the EU age limit for testing fallen cattle from 24 months. We are also considering how best to present an application for an alternative testing programme for fallen cattle, subject to the UK fulfilling the criteria when they are agreed. No change to the age limit for testing cattle slaughtered for human consumption (from 30 months) is envisaged at this stage.

Date

16 April 2007

Reference

2577; 691 c1WA

House

House of Lords

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House

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Member

Primary member

Answering member

Legislative stage

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