To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will publish the evidence she has on whether the number of cows affected by bovine spongiform encephalopathy is falling.

The detailed epidemiological evidence of the effects of the ruminant feed ban on the number of suspected cases of BSE being reported was published in the progress report which was placed in the Library of the House in my reply of 27 May, Official Report, column 689, and updated in my reply of 14 July, Official Report, columns 544–45.I have arranged for a graph to be placed in the Library of the House which brings up to date the information presented in figure 1 of this report.