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12 July,
2004
The
Forum of Private Business
Three years on and still waiting for payment
FPB Knutsford 12 July 2004: It is now three years
since the Foot and Mouth crisis was finally being brought under
control - yet the Government has admitted that there is still £53.3
million worth of invoices outstanding for businesses that helped
out during the outbreak the Forum of Private Business (FPB) has
learned.
In a written answer to a question posed by Henry Bellingham MP,
Alun Michael, Minister of State for Rural Affairs revealed that,
" The Department is disputing £53.3 million of charges
from contractors arising from the provision of goods, services
and works during the foot and mouth outbreak in 2001."
FPB have campaigned for the last year to encourage DEFRA to
settle the outstanding legitimate invoices and are dismayed that
such a significant amount is still being withheld.
Nick Goulding, FPB chief executive said, "While we are
fully supportive of the department protecting the public purse,
we would call on DEFRA to do its level best to finally bring to
a close the lingering effects of the crisis by settling all
outstanding legitimate invoices as quickly and fairly as
possible."
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