Chamber and committees

Up to and including 15 May 2001, the following numbers of animals were slaughtered:

3km cull
Sheep	361,294
Pigs	63
Goats

Contiguous Premises
Sheep	47,988
Cattle	18,329
Pigs	8
Goats	8
Other	1

The information requested is not held centrally.

996 premises were affected by the sheep, goat and pig cull in the 3km zone.130 premises were affected by the policy of culling all susceptible livestock on contiguous farms.

The consultation with CoSLA on the report's recommendations has just been completed. I will make a full response next month.

FMD Policy in Scotland is a matter for the Scottish Executive. The priority has been to take all action necessary to control and eradicate the disease quickly and effectively based on the veterinary and epidemiological advice put before me which reflected all the circumstances relevant to the outbreak in Scotland.Throughout this outbreak I have liased regularly with Nick Brown and my officials have worked extremely closely with their colleagues in Whitehall and in Wales. A detailed list of any differences of approach or implementation has not been maintained.

The special circumstances which apply to hefted flock have been and will continue to be recognised when applying SERAD culling policy. The priority, however, has been to avoid any risk of the disease being spread through our hill areas and beyond, with possibly dire consequences for the whole of Scotland's livestock industry. Now that the disease is under control the position of hefted flocks outwith infected premises will be assessed carefully before any cull goes ahead.

The resources allocated in the Scottish Ambulance Service increased by £5.3 million in 2001-02 and a further £6.6 million in 2002-03 and £3.6 million in 2003-04. The Scottish Ambulance Service is reassessing the impact of the European Working Time Directive on its operations to ensure that consistent, sustainable and high quality ambulance services are provided across Scotland, in a way which puts patients first and ensures that staff are able to give of their best.

I am currently exploring whether any part of the Rural Development Regulation, not just Article 33, could assist with the recovery of rural economies such as Dumfries and Galloway. The funding available is constrained, but I intend to launch soon new schemes to help farming families to generate new forms of income, and to support the processing and marketing of agricultural products. Elements of both schemes fall within the scope of Article 33 of the EU Rural Development Regulation.

The Scottish Executive allocates substantial resources to the NHS throughout Scotland, with every health board receiving at least 5.5% more this year. The NHS locally is best placed to decide how to use these resources most effectively to support national priorities, including those set out in the framework, taking account of local circumstances.

The Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) Impact Assessment Group which I announced on 8 March is providing ongoing advice to the Ministerial Committee for Rural Development FMD Sub-Group. Expert organisations such as visitscotland, the Enterprise Networks and the Scottish Agricultural College have been feeding in very useful information which have helped inform the Ministerial Group on FMD's decisions on hardship relief and its thinking on recovery. To date much of that information has been qualitative and to provide more quantified information the group has recently commissioned a survey of over 2,000 businesses across Scotland to identify the outbreak's impact. The survey results are currently being collated and the final report will be published on 29 June. Copies of the report will be available in the Parliament's Reference Centre.