I have written to every farmer trying to give information about the workings of the helplines and the front-line advice. The Minister of State, Baroness Hayman, is meeting representatives of the main agricultural banks to urge them to do what they can to help, particularly with cash flow, in the present outbreak. I have asked that where the state has purchased the animals and an agreement has been made, the payment be made to the farmer as quickly as it can be expedited. I have also asked to be told the average time it is currently taking to make payments, but I do not have that information yet.
Friend is absolutely right to say that vehicles have to be disinfected for every journey.
As for the extra resources that he pleads for, they are coming. At the moment there is a delay between killing the animals and moving them. I am trying to shorten that delay, and I hope that it will be possible to prevent a situation in which dead animals remain on farms for an inconvenient and distressing length of time. Column 1212 I am happy to join my hon. Friend in thanking local authorities, not just those employed by central Government for their very hard work.