Farmers land more power over diseases

Agriculture Minister Jim Paice said the new Animal Health and Welfare Board would represent “a completely new way of working” for farmers and said that the board would utilise the views of vets, welfare experts and others from outside Government to help inform policy.

The move has been largely welcomed by the farming industry which had previously expressed concern over the issue.

Mr Paice said: “It replaces the old ways, where the people most affected by decisions were kept at arm’s length from policy making on those subjects.

“This is about the Big Society not just existing in our communities, but in the heart of Government – helping to put the decisions in the hands of those who are doing the work on the ground.

“We’ve already seen the success of a partnership between farmers and the Government with the work that’s been done on bluetongue – which has seen the disease virtually eradicated in this country.”

The final decisions on animal health and welfare policy will remain in the hands of Ministers but the board and its members will have to represent the views of all stakeholders.

The board itself will be made up of around 12 members, comprising five senior Defra officials and up to eight external members including the chair.

National Farmers’ Union president Peter Kendall said: “I believe that the success of this new venture will depend greatly on the quality of those individuals appointed to the board and how well the board then engages with industry.

“We will continue to hold government to account on animal health and welfare issues and in particular how the budget is funded.”

Oisin Murnion, chairman of the National Beef Association, said: “People with sound collective understanding of farming, animal welfare, disease spread, and government structure, who will also be able to absorb advice offered by senior civil servants and then report their conclusions directly to the Secretary of State, are needed if England’s new animal health strategy is to work.”

However, some sectors of the industry continued to express concerns about the cost of the new endeavour, with National Sheep Association chief executive Peter Morris saying: “Be under no illusions that there will be enormous pressure for costs to be cut within government spending on animal health and welfare and for sharing of some costs with industry.

“Responsibility sharing will come with a price tag and NSA will be doing all it can to ensure that the sheep industry does not carry costs that it should not no matter what the reason.”

[email protected]