Rural Affairs: Farmers' £40m foot-and-mouth bill

Further proof has been discovered that the Welsh Assembly Government has little influence with that of Gordon Brown's Cabinet.

The foot-and-mouth outbreak in 2007 may have cost Welsh farmers more than £40m, a Welsh assembly committee has found.

The Finance Committee also highlighted an ongoing dispute between the governments in Cardiff and London over who should pay any compensation. A separate assembly report concluded the UK Treasury should compensate Welsh farmers.

The foot-and-mouth outbreak was discovered in Surrey in August, but there were no cases in Wales. However, the outbreak had an impact on the rural economy across the whole of the UK.
Restrictions were placed on the movement and trade of animals following the August outbreak and a second one in September.

Farmers in Wales did not automatically receive compensation because no animals were slaughtered due to the disease, but the Welsh assembly's finance committee said "the effect on the Welsh farming industry was immediate and severe".
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The restrictions meant animals could not be sent to the abattoir which lead to a loss of income and the additional cost of feed.

The National Farmers' Union (NFU) Wales put the cost "in excess of £40m".

The Finance Committee, which is made up of AMs from all parties, pointed to evidence the outbreak came from a research facility at Pirbright that was licensed by the UK government.
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The assembly government has already agreed extra funding for aid schemes including one to promote red meat.

But the AMs noted that just over half of the £7m allocated to the schemes had actually been spent.

The Finance Committee recommended the assembly government undertake a "full and detailed assessment of the costs of the outbreak" and that ministers make "significant additional funding available". The AMs were concerned the level of support being offered to Welsh farmers seemed to be far less than their counterparts in Scotland.

Dai Davies, President of NFU Wales, said they were asking for similar compensation for farmers as in Scotland:

Farmers in Wales have received just under £2m from the Welsh assembly. Farmers in Scotland will be receiving £27m. The sheep industry in Wales is a far bigger industry than it is in Scotland. We face the same problems. Hill farmers are facing a winter having lost half their income, why should we be treated any differently?