Debate on the Address

My Lords, it is a great pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Haskins, who has given us a broad and detailed view of the world and the issues that we face. I will concentrate more on matters that concern us in this country. In voicing my concerns on animal diseases, I declare my interest as a livestock farmer who is still affected by current movement restrictions. In practical terms, one might think that as a Scottish farmer I would not have an interest to declare, because animal health policy is devolved to the Scottish Executive, but, because the basic rules come from Brussels and, stemming from that, because budgetary control remains largely with Defra, I do. Policies evolved for England and Wales are the major influence in setting the policy north of the border in these matters. As my noble friend Lady Byford mentioned, the farming industry is having a tough year. Perhaps, as always, farmers can say that they think they can spot a light at the end of the tunnel, but, too often recently, it has merely been the headlights of oncoming trains—foot and mouth or bluetongue for the livestock industry, or floods and nitrate-vulnerable zones for the arable areas. The Government are to be congratulated on managing to gain acceptance from the EU for a policy of regionalisation from foot and mouth susceptibility to allow the export of meat and meat products for a large number of UK farmers. Two questions remain unanswered, however. In justification of most legislation, the Government are liable to quote public opinion and poll statistics. In animal health and farming, they like to say that policy is based on science. Where is the scientific justification that requires those farms in the new 150-kilometre foot and mouth protection zone to be subject to greater restrictions than they were before? Secondly, why has it taken all this time to get the EU standing committee to agree to this regional approach? Will it now be possible to use this ruling to press for earlier implementation in any future outbreak? Noble Lords will know that we have an industry that is tied quite heavily to seasonal production. When the marketing season comes around, it is considerably reliant on exports. The nationwide restrictions that have had to be put in place have been devastating to a large proportion of this season’s crop. Some of this has been recognised in the Government’s rescue package for England and Wales, but the bluetongue restrictions have thrown up more problems, which need to be addressed. It was only back in June that the Government suggested that the farming industry should share the costs of the control of animal diseases. In the light of that, I echo the question put by my noble friend Lord Taylor, who asked what figures the Government have on the costs of controlling the current outbreak of foot and mouth. How does that compare with the loss of revenue in the livestock industry? This is one major contribution that farmers already make in the implementation of disease control. The Minister has never dodged the fact that this foot and mouth outbreak was due to a fault at a Government-licensed laboratory. In the Statement issued earlier today, the Secretary of State mentions the further inspections that have taken place at Pirbright and says that there is an improvement plan. Can the Minister tell the House when this essential work will be completed? What is the anticipated cost? It is reassuring to know that an assessment of all other similarly licensed premises was initiated in the summer. How many premises were included under this programme and has there been any assessment of the costs that will be incurred in answering the deficiencies that have been found? On the problems of the outbreak of bluetongue and the Government’s decision to order between 10 million and 20 million doses of vaccine, how much funding have the Government allocated to this policy? Is this part of a programme that is currently planned for the coming year or will the identification of further infection in the spring be required before they expect this treatment to be used? To what extent do the Government expect to recover any costs incurred? Today we have a further outbreak of bird flu. The Government’s contingency plan for exotic animal diseases is being continually put to the test. One thing that has been shown up is the need for an adequate distribution of slaughter and disposal facilities, let alone the outstanding need for better distribution of slaughter facilities more generally. In the first derogation of restrictions in the current foot and mouth outbreak, the sole outlet available for lambs from Scotland was in Wales. Lorries capable of carrying 600 lambs were restricted to picking up from a single holding and the whole expense had to be financed from a load of 150 lambs. This morning I heard that the Minister was making a strenuous effort to encourage government procurement of home-produced food. I probably do not need to remind him that British lamb has been unusually cheap this season and I hope that his purchasing departments have been taking full advantage of that.