THE Government's announcement of a £3-million relief package for Devon's economic recovery from foot and mouth disease has been met with anger by rural businesses and politicians.

The sum represents a fraction of the £316-million cost of the disease to the county, estimated by Devon County Council.

Following publication of two Government reports on the future of the rural economy, the Secretary of State for Rural Affairs, Margaret Beckett, announced last Thursday the Business Recovery Fund would be increased by £24-million.

The nationwide package will include £15-million from central government, plus £9-million from existing Regional Development Agency funds, with around £3-million designated for the West Country.

John Burnett, Liberal Democrat MP for Torridge and West Devon, said: 'It is a completely inadequate response to the huge need not just for agriculture and tourism but all other rural business. It is incomprehensible that the Government ask someone like Lord Haskins to report, and then effectively ignore his conclusions.

'It is deplorable how the Government has sneaked this announcement out in the chamber without an opportunity for proper debate.'

Mr Burnett said by making more than a third of the total recovery package stem from existing South West Regional Development Agency funds, the Government was effectively 'robbing Peter to pay Paul'.

Ian Johnson, of the National Farmers' Union described the amount as a 'drop in the ocean'. 'Thousands of people through no fault of their own have been completely hog-tied, I don't think those people will be comforted by this,' he said.

'We are extremely disappointed and concerned about the current situation. The people who really matter are no better off, and that's a real tragedy.'

Philip Davies, owner of the Two Bridges and Bedford Hotels, criticised the Government's recovery package and its handling of the crisis. 'Dartmoor's current plight is as a direct result of the deliberate Government decision to slaughter and close the moor rather than vaccinate and keep the moor open. Many locals have suffered greatly as a result of that policy.

'Labour have few votes in rural areas and it is obvious we are being left to solve our own problems without their help,' he said.

Two Government reports were released on the same day that the £3-million recovery package for Devon was announced. Both Lord Haskins' report, 'Rural Recovery after Foot and Mouth Disease', and the report of the Rural Task Force, chaired by DEFRA minister Alun Michael, supported many of the proposals set out in the Devon Recovery Plan, though neither fully quantified the cost of their recommendations. However, Lord Haskins' report did suggest a £40-million increase in the Business Recovery Fund plus additional measures would be desirable.

Mr Burnett was critical of the Rural Task Force report, saying: 'It betrays a lack of real knowledge of agriculture and tourism. Its recommendations are pretty flimsy, and those recommendations are worthless unless they are given the appropriate support of the Treasury.'

He cited as an example the government's Small Firms Loan Guarantee Scheme, which the report conceded had a low take-up rate among businesses affected by the foot and mouth crisis. Mr Burnett said the scheme was 'absolutely hopeless' and had failed because it was 'immensely bureaucratic and hugely expensive'.

Devon County Council's own report stated that foot and mouth has halved the average income of small firms in the worst affected area. Research suggests the number of people out of work in Devon may have risen by a figure of 3,000.

A copy of the Devon 'Impact of Foot and Mouth' report has been given to the Devon Foot and Mouth Inquiry, which is due to publish its interim findings at the end of the month.

The data in the report comes from 196 businesses in West Devon and Torridge, North Devon and the South Hams, which were among the worst affected areas in the country.

Between them these firms say they have had to axe 240 full and part-time jobs. The report highlights a rise in seasonally adjusted unemployment, the impact on the self-employed and the difficult winter ahead for small rural businesses after the halving of cashflow during the summer.